Father–Toddler Bonding during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Qualitative Insights from 17 Families in Britain

Paula Sheppard () and Mikaela Brough
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Paula Sheppard: School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, 51-53 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6PE, UK
Mikaela Brough: School of Engineering, Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: The UK lockdowns brought about many domestic changes. One was that many families with young children found themselves in the largely unique situation where fathers who normally worked away and saw little of their children during the day were now at home full-time. This was coupled with the fact that grandparents were now unavailable as lockdown rules prohibited visits and travel and many elderly were especially vulnerable. This study aimed to explore how this novel family situation was regarded by parents of young children and how they thought it would affect their children’s social development. Thematic analysis of interviews with 24 mothers and fathers of toddlers revealed that most parents did not think that the lockdown negatively impacted their child’s development, although they worried about it nonetheless. Having fathers at home was overwhelmingly seen as a positive for both the dad’s attachment to the toddler and the toddler’s attachment to their dad. The narrative around grandparents was more divided; there was an almost even split between parents thinking grandparental absence had a negative impact on the grandparent–child relationship and those who thought it made no difference. This study provides qualitative insight into an unusual domestic situation suggesting that parents felt father-child bonds were strengthened by the lockdown, although it remains to be seen if father-child relationships are improved long-term.

Keywords: father presence; lockdown; attachment; child social development; grandparents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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