Understanding and addressing the ‘Dad Lag’
Dr Matt Price, Director of Research & Grants
Historically, mothers were primary caregivers
Historically, mums have been the main carers for babies. In most Western cultures, traditional family roles positioned mums as the main carers and dads as breadwinners. Dads were not typically active in caring for babies or children. This meant that there was an understandable focus on the important role that mums play in supporting their baby’s development. Researchers were interested in mums and babies, and much less interested in the wider family structures.
Support services are often centred around mums and babies
This legacy continues to shape today’s services. Due in part to the research focus on mums, support services are often centred around the needs of mums and babies. This is understandable and important: we must support mums and babies. For example, in England, specialist perinatal mental health support services were developed by the NHS to ensure that mums experiencing high levels of distress in the perinatal period could access mental health support. These services are essential and have been invaluable to thousands of mums and babies.
Dads are more actively involved in childcare than ever before
Although mums remain the main caregivers in most Western cultures, the picture is changing. Over recent decades, there has been a slow but definite shift in who cares for children. For example, Vagni (2023) reported that dads were doing just 18 minutes of childcare per day in 1961. This increased to 71 minutes per day by 2015 – nearly 300% increase. We also know that dads are taking longer paternity leave and shared parental leave because they want to be involved in caring for their baby.
More than ever, there is evidence about the importance of dads
Not only do dads spend more time caring for their children, but there is also growing evidence that they play an important role in shaping their baby’s development. For example, the Paternal Involvement and its Effects on Children’s Education (PIECE, 2023) study found that:
Greater dad involvement in structured educational activities provides an educational advantage in the first year of primary school.
Dads’ involvement operates differently to mums’ involvement in supporting educational attainment.
Dads’ involvement at age three helps to increase a child’s educational attainment at age five.
Other research also shows that babies benefit most when they have secure attachment relationships with both their mum and their dad (Dagan et al., 2022).
Support systems haven’t kept pace with social change
The support structures around families and babies have not yet caught up with societal changes. This has resulted in a ‘Dad lag’ where dads are recognised as being more active and important in their baby’s development but where services not available to support them. For example, dads are not currently eligible for the same specialist perinatal mental health support as mums in the UK.
We need modern solutions to modern parenting
If we’re serious about giving every baby the best start in life, we need to design support systems that reflect the reality of modern parenting. That means recognising the vital role dads play and ensuring services are built around both mums and dads. Bridging the ‘Dad lag’ isn’t just about equity – it’s about improving outcomes for babies, parents, and families alike.
