Ep 247 - The system is broken for dads too...these are the changes we ALL need to happen with Paul Morgan-Bentley
Welcome to this week’s episode with the fantastic Paul Morgan-Bentley, who is Head of Investigations at The Times and the author of a new book, The Equal Parent, which explores myths around gendered parenting roles and advocates for men properly sharing responsibility for caring for their children.
Paul and his husband Robin welcomed their baby via surrogacy three years ago, and one night when Paul was lying awake, struggling to go back to sleep, he scrolled through Google in search of advice for fathers. He found a clear recurring narrative – that compared to mums, dads are useless. Paul was fed up with all the praise he received for doing the basics – being at playgroups, health visits etc. Everything that is expected of mothers to do.
With his investigative journalism background, Paul set out to find the answers as to why it is so unequal when it comes to caregiving for our children. Is it biology, is it society, or is it something else?
I think you’ll really love this episode with the author of ‘The Equal Parent”. As always, we continue the conversation over on Instagram.
Key takeaways from this week’s episode:
Being a gay couple has freed us of societal expectations and given us an insight into how it should be for all couples
We cannot have equality in the workplace without looking to create equality at home
It is a complete myth that fathers do not develop the same level of oxytocin (the love hormone) that mothers do for their child
We need to stop excluding dads in parental policy. .There should be shared parental leave and not held against dads.
Why raising children among several different caregivers is not only relieving for the primary caregiver but also incredibly beneficial to the child