Dr Sam Rushworth

I beg to move, That this House has considered the contribution of fathers and positive male role models to families and society. It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank Members from across the House for supporting this debate. As I prepared for it, I had in my mind’s eye the children and young people I represent across the Bishop Auckland constituency, who need active fathers and male role models in their lives, as well as the men who do their best to nurture, guide, teach, protect, provide, entertain and love as they raise children, often while juggling multiple other responsibilities and worries. I want to make three points: first, that fathers and positive male role models are essential for addressing the challenges we face as a nation; secondly, that active fatherhood is good for men’s mental health and wellbeing; and, thirdly, that good public policy should support active fatherhood and the presence of positive male role models in young people’s lives. The importance of fathers and positive male role models cannot be overstated. In 2015, Pope Francis observed that we are living through not an era of change, but the change of an era. Today’s children and youth are growing up in an uncertain world that is very different from the one I grew up in during the ’80s and ’90s. Our country faces profound challenges that have increased people’s sense of insecurity and worry. Tomorrow marks 25 years since 9/11 and the start of the war on terror, which has never really ended. Next came a global financial crash and a fall in living standards from which households in our communities have not recovered. We face a new cold war with Russia, economic uncertainty, extreme weather, and AI accelerating at such a pace that we do not know what the world will look like in five years from now. Our rising generation—the first to grow up in the era of social media—are experiencing a mental health crisis, a youth unemployment crisis and even an identity crisis. What is consistent in this world of uncertainty? It is the love and security offered by familial bonds—the unique, deep connections of love, trust and mutual support that tie family members together—and the role of fathers is important in that. I must add a caveat: implicit in my definition of fatherhood is a positive, supportive and loving individual. I know that, sadly, there are children who suffer under the scrutiny and abuse of the men in their family unit. If I may be so bold, those men are not fathers, hence I also speak of positive male role models from whom young people can receive care and mentorship outside of the home. The evidence is compelling: having an active father and positive male role models is strongly associated with positive outcomes in young people, while their absence is linked to bad outcomes and distress. A 2021 literature review by the University of Kent, commissioned by the previous Government, found that fathers’ increased involvement with their children positively affected their emotional, psychological and educational development, their future careers, and the future division of housework. In 2017, Klemera et al found that greater adolescent-father closeness was linked to a lower likelihood of a person self-harming. In 2008, Flouri found that higher levels of involvement by fathers and father figures correlated with higher levels of prosocial behaviour, self-esteem and happiness in adolescence for both sexes.