AT A “boot camp” for parents-to-be in New York, course leaders guide their students through baby maintenance for beginners: what goes in, what comes out, and how to keep them warm and clean. The students have the same questions and worries as expectant parents the world over. But there is one difference: at this particular boot camp, they are all men.
The City Dads Group, which offers the course to new and expectant fathers, was founded when Matt Schneider and Lance Somerfeld became fathers and discovered that society saw their place as firmly outside the home. New York was full of parents’ support groups, but nearly all were aimed at mothers. Parenting classes focused on birth and breastfeeding, not child-rearing; general-interest groups were needlessly gendered, such as a music class called “Mommy and Me”. Frustrated, the friends set up their own group, which has spread to 17 cities in America, helping dads who want to get involved from day one. “Fatherhood doesn’t start when they join the Little League,” says Mr Schneider.
Around the world, legal and financial support for new parents is better than it has ever been. According to...
from The Economist: International http://ift.tt/1HfPmKx
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