Centre for Innovation in Fatherhood and Family Research

Our Research

The Centre for Innovation in Fatherhood and Family Research (CFFR) brings together academics, multi-agency practitioners and those with lived experience to address and understand pressing social issues that directly impact on the lives of families.

Building from the foundations of a Future Leaders Fellowship called Following Young Fathers Further, led by Centre Director, Professor Anna Tarrant, the Centre is distinctive within the Higher Education sector for its combined focus on fatherhood and family welfare as core areas of societal significance. Taking this work forwards collaboratively, CFFR advocates for father-inclusion and the wider societal benefits of promoting engaged fatherhood as a route to improving family wellbeing.

Our Mission

A key aim of the Centre is to advance knowledge and expertise in fatherhood and family research, with a view to influencing academic, policy, and practice agendas both locally and (inter)nationally though impactful social sciences research. We are especially committed to the use and development of participatory and collaborative methodologies including co-creation and co-production to ensure interventions are effectively tailored to the needs of both beneficiaries and providers.

Key themes and areas of expertise held by our academic and multi-agency partners include:

Parenthood
Fatherhood and father-inclusion
Promoting gender equality
Balancing work and care
Education
Health and social care
Domestic violence
Co-creation and peer research.

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Our Centre supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which are an urgent call for action to tackle some of the world's most pressing problems, now and into the future.

What We Offer

First established in 2023, the Centre continues to grow and is developing its offer. Core strands of activity include: an annual keynote speaker event; delivery on applied research projects with local and national partners; influencing family policy and other relevant arenas of policy that impact on families; providing consultancy and evaluation; and leading and contributing to national and international research networks and projects.

You can learn more about our work and our outputs by exploring these pages.

A father carrying his child and walking on the beach

Following Young Fathers Further

The Following Young Fathers Further project is exploring new ways of embedding father-inclusive research, practice, and policy in the UK.

The Project Website

A man and child walking along a wooded path

Transforming the Lives of Young Fathers

Read more about our ‘Following Young Fathers Further' study, which is funded by UK Research and Innovation and has seen the co-creation of the Young Dads Collective in Leeds and Grimsby.

Explore the Research

Two parents walking and holding hands with a child

Caregiving Dads, Breadwinning Mums

A new research study, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, has found that modern parents want to do things differently, but parental leave policies make it hard to share care.

Read the Study

A man walking with his child on a city wall

Our Objectives

A major strategic goal is to strengthen family and societal wellbeing via fatherhood and family research, through innovative participatory methods and unique university-community partnerships.

Read Our Objectives