Lack of men in childcare denies young children role models – Clegg

Interesting speech yesterday from Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg to the Daycare Trust about the importance of male role models for children:

I remember well when I first arrived at Westminster the strange looks I would get when I would miss a drink in the Commons bar so that I could put the kids to bed.

For men wanting to actually work in the field, the social disapproval, even hostility, that they often feel is a huge deterrent … Of those who have done it, some say the only way they were accepted was by being seen as ‘honorary women’, rather than as men with perfectly legitimate and important contributions to make.

Women have worked long and hard to get into professions that they were kept out of for years. And they are still working at it, that fight isn’t over; the pay gap proves it.

But we must extend the fight to include equal rights for men in the professions where they are excluded.

Children need a mixture of role models. And for the one million lone parent families in this country, a male presence in the childcare environment can be hugely positive.

You can more in the BBC’s coverage here.

His comments concentrate on the childcare aspect of the issue, and other aspects of this area have been raised by other Liberal Democrat MPs. For example, ‘Dads and doughnuts’ schemes have been used in the US to help involve fathers more in their children’s upbringing, as Lynne Featherstone has blogged about.