80% of fathers reach out for mental health support at work

Parent Cloud is an organisation offering an on-demand support tool for families. The platform can be offered, as part of an employee benefits programme, in the workplace.

The organisation has that found 80 percent of mental health support sessions, booked through its platform, are by fathers. It said this reflects research conducted by the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), which found a third of new dads were worried about their mental health.

Family dynamics in the UK have changed dramatically over the past few decades. Long gone are the days when fathers were the sole bread winner, with mothers staying at home to look after the children and taking responsibility for almost all childcare.

Parent Cloud has found fathers, particularly those aged under 40, are much more involved in the day-to-day raising of their children. Of these, 58 percent said they are fully involved and an additional 29 percent said they are mostly involved. Parenthood is affecting their working lives, with 63 percent having requested an adjustment in their working arrangements.

Providing effective mental health support in the workplace is vital, given that it’s costing UK employers up to £45bn a year - a figure that has risen by 16 percent since 2016, according to Deloitte.

Karen Taylor, founder of Parent Cloud, said: “Juggling the demands of work and home life used to be something that only mothers had to cope with. As fathers step up and embrace a more active role in bringing up their children, it is a challenge they are now facing too.

“No one tends to ask new fathers how they are feeling at work, which can make them feel isolated or alone, not able to share any problems they might have adjusting to their new role.”