Over the years, councils have focused primarily on helping children. That is clearly still important, but now it's time to do more to help parents as well.
Councils want to work with families and support parents, to equip them to deal with some of the challenges of daily living and overcome the hurdles that get in the way of building safe, stable and nurturing environments that all children can thrive in.
These six case studies show how councils are working to support positive parenting and relationships.
Key statistics
- One in four children are born into households affected by drink, drugs, mental illness and domestic violence.
- One in five mothers suffer from postnatal depression and anxiety during pregnancy and in the first year of their baby's life.
- 61 per cent of parents described parenting as ‘fairly' or ‘very' difficult.
- One in five mothers find it difficult to access help with parenting.
- Half of children born today can expect to see their parents split by the time they are 15.
