Most SA fathers shown to be present, according to survey

A RECENT report on fathers and fatherhood found most children in South Africa live with men, and the number of men who live in extended family households that include children increased from 48% to 61% during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The second State of South Africa’s Fathers (Sosaf 2021) report, one of the largest and specially-dedicated surveys on fathers and fatherhood in South Africa by Sonke Gender Justice, was launched yesterday.

Planned for publication every three years, the report can be used in the development of policy and legislation for families, labour market regulations, educational curricula and other training materials, and acts as a bulwark against uninformed and false narratives about fathers and fatherhood, said Sonke Gender Justice in a statement.

Sonke Gender Justice, Unicef SA, the Department of Social Development and other partners have been working together to strengthen fathers and other male caregivers’ involvement in the care and protection of children in South Africa. With 1 003 men from across the province who have biological children, or act in the capacity of fathers for children, surveyed, the Sosaf 2021 report is intended to support men’s contribution to gender equal and non-violent parenting.

Some of the findings include that one in five non-resident fathers had contact with their children at least twice a week, with 77% agreeing that men are as good at care giving as women. Some unemployed or precariously employed men avoid contacting their children and families when they are unable to give financial support. And gay men who choose to be fathers are not only perceived as a threat to stereotypical notions of fatherhood – their pathways to parenthood are deemed a transgression of the nuclear family, reproduction and gender-based expectations of parenting roles.

It was also found that the use of money as a form of violence by fathers to manipulate, coerce and abuse mothers and children, as well as for the value of unpaid care work to be included in maintenance calculations, should be explored.

“If we understand men and care better, we can disrupt the automatic association of women with care work, and thereby relieve women from the hard work of caring for children,” said report editor Wessel van den Berg.