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Unmarried Fathers in Ireland: an Examination of the Barriers to Shared Parenting

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Unmarried Fathers in Ireland: an Examination of the Barriers to Shared Parenting Unmarried Fathers in Ireland: An Examination of the Barriers to Shared Parenting Elizabeth Kiely and Robert Bolton 2018 Commissioned by Treoir and funded by the Community Foundation of Ireland Contents Chapter One - Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background and Rationale ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Treoir ............................................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Research Aims ............................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 4 1.4.1 Literature Review ................................................................................................................... 4 1.4.2 Desk Based Research .............................................................................................................. 5 1.4.3 Primary Research .................................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Structure of the Report ................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter Two - Non-Marital Families, Coparenting and Father Involvement in Children’s Lives: A Review of the Literature .................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 What is ‘Shared Parenting’? – Mapping the Conceptual Terrain ................................................ 10 2.2.1 What is shared parenting? ..................................................................................................... 10 2.2.2 What Should ‘Shared Parenting’/‘Coparenting’ Involve’? .................................................. 13 2.3 Non-Marital Families ................................................................................................................... 15 2.4 Father Involvement in Children’s Lives ...................................................................................... 18 2.4.1 What Can And Should Fathers Do? ...................................................................................... 18 2.4.2 Benefits of father involvement ............................................................................................. 20 2.5 Factors Associated with Unmarried Father Involvement ............................................................ 21 2.5.1 Father Prenatal Involvement ................................................................................................. 21 2.5.2 Individual Risk Factors ......................................................................................................... 22 2.5.3 Relationship Trajectories and Multipartner Fertility ............................................................ 26 2.5.4 Cooperative Coparenting ...................................................................................................... 28 2.5.5 Cultural and Legal Factors .................................................................................................... 32 2.5.6 Gatekeeping Behaviours and Beliefs around Coparent Roles .............................................. 33 2.6 Summary – Key Points from the Literature Reviewed ................................................................ 36 Conceptual and theoretical issues .................................................................................................. 36 Sociology of Unmarried Parents .................................................................................................... 36 General Studies .............................................................................................................................. 37 Barriers and facilitators to father involvement .............................................................................. 38 2.7 Concluding Note .......................................................................................................................... 39 Chapter Three - Legislative, Policy and Practice Interventions with Unmarried Parents /non- Marital Families: A Review of Empirical Studies ............................................................................ 40 3.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 40 3.2 Marriage / Relationship Focused Interventions ........................................................................... 41 3.2.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 41 3.2.2 ‘Building Strong Families’ ................................................................................................... 41 3.2.3 ‘Caring for My Family’ ........................................................................................................ 42 3.3 Mother and Father Focused Interventions – the ‘Understanding Dad’ Intervention and the Responsible Fatherhood Programmes ............................................................................................... 43 3.3.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 43 3.3.2 ‘Responsible Fatherhood’ Initiatives .................................................................................... 43 3.3.3 ‘Understanding Dad’ ............................................................................................................ 44 3.4 Quality of Family Life Interventions ........................................................................................... 45 3.4.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 45 3.4.1 ‘The Parents’ Fair Share’ ...................................................................................................... 45 3.5 Programmes Focused on Early Years - Improving Outcomes for Children in Non-Marital Families.............................................................................................................................................. 46 3.5.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 46 3.5.2 ‘Family Nurse Partnership’ ................................................................................................... 46 3.6 Coparenting Interventions ........................................................................................................... 47 3.6.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 47 3.6.2 ‘Strong Start Stable Families’ ............................................................................................... 48 3.6.3 ‘Support Father Involvement’ ............................................................................................... 48 3.6.4 ‘Family Connections in Alabama’ ........................................................................................ 49 3.6.5 ‘Young Parents Programme’ ................................................................................................ 50 3.6.6 ‘Building Everyday Life’ ...................................................................................................... 50 3.6.7 ‘Figuring it Out for Child’ .................................................................................................... 51 3.7 Family Court Interventions and Non-Marital Families ............................................................... 52 3.7.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................... 52 3.7.2 Parenting Time Orders / Parenting Orders / Family Relationship Centres .......................... 53 3.7.3 The ‘Co-Parent Court’ .......................................................................................................... 57 3.8 Summary Points ........................................................................................................................... 59 Chapter Four - Unmarried Fathers and Shared Parenting: Setting the Social, Legal and Policy Context in Ireland. ............................................................................................................................... 61 4.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 61 4.2 Contextualising Shared and Unmarried Parenting in Ireland ...................................................... 61 4.2.1 Non-marital Family Forms ................................................................................................... 61 4.2.2 Austerity, Post-Austerity, Labour Market Activation and Lone Parent Families ................ 62 4.2.3 Children in Non-Marital Families .......................................................................................
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