Modern Parenting: Policy, politics and the illusion of equality

7th Apr 2011; 13:00

Listen to the audio

(full recording including audience Q&A)
Please right-click link and choose "Save Link As..." to download audio file onto your computer.

Watch the video (edited highlights)

Read the article on RSA comment

RSA Thursday

If we live in an age of equality, why are women are still left holding the baby?

Women today achieve success at school, at university and in their early careers, and enter into relationships on their own terms. So it might seem that the equality debate has been laid to rest.

But once they have children, their illusions are swiftly shattered. For all the current talk of shared parenting, women still find themselves bearing primary responsibility for bringing up their children, while fathers remain "the breadwinners".

The consequences of this enduring inequality in the home reach far beyond individuals and into society as a whole.

As the government introduces new 'flexible' parental leave for parents in the first year, writer and broadcaster Rebecca Asher visits the RSA to ask: how useful really are these new reforms? And where's the evidence on what really works to bring about the 'shared parenting from pregnancy' that the government says it wants?

Join Rebecca Asher, Adrienne Burgess, head of research, Fatherhood Institute and Jack O’Sullivan, consultant in healthcare policy and equality issues and author of “He’s Having a Baby”, the BBC Guide to Fatherhood as they debate whether a radical new approach is needed if we want to raise our children fairly and happily.

Chair: Matthew Taylor, chief executive, RSA

Get the latest RSA Audio

Subscribe to iTunes | RSS | Mixcloud

You are welcome to link to, download, save or distribute our audio/video files electronically. Find out more about our open access licence.