Exploring Father Involvement in Early Childhood

All children should have the right to be members of nurturing families and environments in which their personal, social and emotional needs are being met. During the last decades, it has been stressed out the importance of the father's role in young children's healthy development. Nowadays fathers are more involved in the upbringing of their children and provide positive impact on children's wellbeing. Fathers' status, education, profession, as well as relationship to their children's mother seem to play a determinant role in the quality of their relationship and involvement with their children. The present study explores the views, ideas, behaviours and attitudes of Greek fathers on their role in children's care and development. A sample of 100 fathers of young children aged 2-8 years old was examined by means of a questionnaire. The outcomes of the study confirm that today's fathers are more involved in their children's upbringing and influence their development. At the same time, it is evident from the answers of our sample that fathers believe their role in children's development is more indirect in relation to the one of the mother.