Dads Have Less Fun with Kids than Mothers, Study Says

Published November 20, 2014

Not only do dads spend less time with their children, they don't enjoy that time as much as moms do, Australian researchers claimed Wednesday.

Twice as many fathers say they "sometimes or less often" enjoy spending time with their children as do mothers, a report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies found.

AIFS research fellow and the author of "The Best Start: Supporting Happy, Healthy Childhoods," Dr. Jennifer Baxter, said that when fathers were asked whether they enjoyed spending time with their children, 28 percent said they "always or almost always" did, compared with 40 percent of mothers.

And 21 percent of dads said they "sometimes or less often" enjoyed time spent with their kids, compared with 11 percent for moms.

"Dads often have that added pressure of long work hours," Baxter told The Australian.

"They're there in the mornings when time is so rushed and at dinner when there's so much going on, so that stress of combining work with the hard parts of the family day may be spilling over into their level of enjoyment."

Baxter said part of the answer to why dads are less satisfied could be that they are more honest about it than mothers.

"There's a very strong ethos that mothers must love and care and nurture their children. . . while fathers might be more inclined to admit when things aren't going well."

Click here to read more from The Australian.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/health/dads-have-less-fun-with-kids-than-mothers-study-says