Is mum enough - Radio 5 live

A documentary about, is mum enough? By Reggie Yates, highlights the issue and importance of having father figures in Children''s lives as they are growing up

If you would like to listen please go to the BBC website

Mum has to be enough in the case of our 3 daughters as dad is too bitter and twisted to be a father.

Nope, mum in not enough....IMHO.

A child needs their dad or at least a father figure.

The reality for some of us though, is having to be two parents!

I agree mum is not enough but how do you engage fathers in their child''s upbringing?

My children are older which is easier I suppose but I cannot engage with x re their health/sch etc without getting into an argument or even txt without being told I am harassing x.

I try to tell kids to talk to their dad, have you rung, do you want to visit etc etc . . . Even on his wkends they spend most of the time either asleep or at home, I suppose it is hard normally to engage with teenagers.

My god I mostly spend time referring between then (& this is the only mention of x when one is moving out because of the other & I am asked to choose between them! Not going to happen).

There is the ccasional Facebook message etc - But at the moment it is hard as I can see their relationship with x slipping away & I think that is really sad for both kids & x.

Any ideas? JJx

Why isn''t there a documentary called "is dad enough?"?

I think personally it depends entirely upon the situation, as each and every relationship is unique, each and every child and each and every parent.

Some of the mums above have highlighted the fact that some dads just don''t want to know.

Some people ask "how can a mum act like that?", but I ask "how can a parent act like that?" since I believe that there should never be any parent who is found wanting.

More must be done to encourage and support those dads who want to be a permanent part of their children''s lives.

My son has shared the care of his children for nearly three years and no Government Department has any interest in him as a parent except for one - the CSA.

No disrespects to any mum struggling to bring up her children without support, but dads who are sharing care can also struggle with bills and no account is taken of income or ability to pay and no help or support is available to him - he is classed for tax purposes as a single man with no dependants.

stepper,

I can categorically say that you are correct on that.

The same counts for Child Benefit and Tax Credits; for a man, if you don''t have a residence order they really don''t want to talk to you and nearly always give the woman the benefit of the doubt and award something to her, even when things are dreadfully wrong.

I''ve struggled for these past two years with barely a penny and my ex doing very little to look after the children, and this is "shared care" according to her.