A child’s understanding of gender equality begins in the home. This Father’s Day we want to eliminate gender roles at home by smashing the stereotype of the hopeless dad in the kitchen. We know not all dads are experts at cooking, but all dads care about providing their children with a healthy start to life. Cooking with your children and sharing meal times is an important step in shaping their understanding of healthy eating and living. When you eliminate gender roles at home, children are empowered to reach their full potential.
To help get a better understanding of how modern-day dads feel around these issues, Plan International commissioned an independent survey. Polling 500 dads in every major city in Australia, the IPSOS delivered survey questioned dad’s role in the modern Australian home. The findings are extremely positive and indicate the stereotype of hopeless dad is increasingly dispelled. The overall results strongly point towards modern Aussie dads as capable and engaged parents.
Almost all (99%) the dads surveyed say they have an important role to play teaching children how to eat healthily, with 87% enjoying cooking with their kids as a bonding activity. Dads are also in favour of equality: almost all (97%) agree dads must play an equal role in parenting and 97% say they care about teaching children to respect all genders equally.
Three-quarters of fathers surveyed (77%) said they were fed up with the ‘dumb dad’ stereotype and agree that the advertising stereotype was damaging to fathers who work hard to raise healthy, happy kids.
Dads listed playing with their children as the most important shared activity, followed by reading, sport, cooking, music and art. When it came to who cooks at home, the results were down to the wire, with 34% saying they do most of the cooking, 35% saying their partner cooks most and 31% agreeing it was equally shared.
Our Whole Kids co-founder James Meldrum – who is a father of two – says the ‘hopeless dad’ stereotype is totally out of kilter with modern day parenting.
“This Father’s Day it’s really important to celebrate dads that recognise their contribution to families, the idea of hopeless dads is no longer relevant. Dads come in all shapes and sizes and the role of dads is often undervalued, they’re a real critical part of a child’s development. The role of a father in modern life has changed a lot since the 1950s and we need to recognise that dads are far more involved and want to be even more involved in a child’s development.”
Whole Kids and Plan International have worked in partnership for the last 6 months with their shared vision to make the world a happier and healthier place for kids.
