Young dad says more support needed for new fathers

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Josh, from County Durham, now 22, says his life and relationship with his twin daughters has been transformed by support that he said should be offered to more men.

But he also believes the government needs to increase the amount of paternity leave on offer to new dads, and ensure employers offer flexible working.

Josh initially thought he had "ruined his life" when partner Katy fell pregnant, and then when twins Autumn and Winter were born wonder was mixed with fear as he tried to navigate fatherhood.

"I was scared being a dad and I was isolated as well. None of my friends were dads. They had different responsibilities, different goals in life.

"I felt lonely, that I was the only person going through this and in reality, it was the opposite. There were loads of dads going through the same thing."

He discovered that when he started getting support from charity North East Young Dads and Lads.

They offered him a combination of parenting classes and group activities with other young fathers that he said has changed his life.

"Before I got involved with the charity, I'd never even thought of taking the girls out on my own to a stay and play session or anything like that. They helped me build my confidence and give me the space so I felt safe to do that.

"I think the girls must have been eight or nine months old before I finally took them somewhere on my own."

Josh now works for North East Young Dads and Lads offering new fathers the same support he got, and says the flexible working it offers has also helped.

"I'm in a better state of mind. I'm happy, and the relationship me and the girls have is brilliant. It's just grown from strength to strength."

But Josh also wants the government to look at the rights fathers have to take time out of work to be with their children. At the moment new dads are only entitled to two weeks of paternity leave to help with a new baby.

"It's important for dads to bond. Two weeks is not enough time. I had to go back to work, I had to have an income. I feel if I had more time to take off and build that relationship with them, it would have been stronger from the start."

A North East Labour MP, who has met with the charity, is campaigning for longer paternity leave but also for more support to be on offer for new dads.

Bishop Auckland's Sam Rushworth, a father of five, used a parliamentary debate to talk about the need to support dads. He fears without male role models, young boys in particular could be negatively influenced by social media.

He said: "A young man in Britain today is more likely to have a smartphone than to have a male role model in his life, and when the going gets tough and young people don't feel they've got anywhere else to turn, they turn to the internet.

"They can then be influenced by bad faith actors who don't really want them to grow up into the sort of young man we'd all like to see.

"There are things we can do, like more paternity leave, flexible working, and support in the community that can create those role models that our children need."

The government has said it is reviewing the length of paternity leave, and is working across departments to improve support for dads, including through more family hubs and a men's health strategy.

In Rushworth's debate, justice minister Jake Richards said: "I am proud to be part of a pro-family government, something that I am very pleased to say explicitly. We are supporting families from the very beginning.

"We want family services to be accessible and welcoming to all parents, and for fathers to feel that support is for them, too. That includes recognising that the transition to fatherhood itself can be really challenging and making sure fathers are supported during those critical months around birth."

But in the debate MPs also highlighted the role school and sports clubs can play in providing male role models.

Sunderland AFC's official charity Foundation of Light launched its We Are Role Models campaign in 2025, following ex England manager Gareth Southgate's comments about the lack of positive influences for young men.

It works across Sunderland, South Tyneside and County Durham, supporting boys and young men through sport, education and mentoring.

Community cohesion manager Jake Leighton said young people were sometimes "detached".

"They don't have that sense of belonging of their local community which is what we try and embed as much as we can," he told BBC Politics North.

"We try and map and measure that so they can see that sense of belonging, that their school is really important.

"There's not just role models in the nuclear family set up – they are everywhere.

"What the Foundation of Light do really well through the We Are Role Models campaign is to shine a light on our members of staff who can be that role model for them."

The foundation also aims to create role models out of young people themselves to inspire others.

"They then feel empowered to go and work with other young people, they are creating the next role model beyond, it doesn't have to be an adult.

"The younger the role model is crucial because they are relatable. They look like them, they talk like them and unfortunately for people who become older we become unrelatable in many senses, so the younger we work with the young person the better."

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