Fathers are often missing from family life and this puts their children at a considerable disadvantage, as research over the last 20 years shows. A Swedish team reviewed 24 published studies and found that active, involved fathers, or "father figures", protect boys from developing behavioural problems and girls from psychological problems.
Regular, positive contact also reduced criminal behaviour among children in low-income families and enhanced their intellectual development. Children who actually lived with both a mother and father figure had fewer behavioural problems than those who lived with just their mother. Long-term, women had better relationships with partners and a greater sense of well-being at age 33 if they had a good relationship with their father at 16.
The researchers say they are not able to conclude exactly what kind of engagement the father figure needs to produce the positive effects. Nor are they sure if outcomes differ depending on whether the child lives with their biological father or with another father figure. They conclude that governments and employers need to come up with "father-friendly policies" that support the increased involvement of fathers in child-rearing
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