Father's Involvement in Pregnancy and Early Years and its Impact on Children's Development among Families Living in Luton's most Disadvantaged Areas

With consistent and positive father involvement, child outcomes are significantly better. However, father involvement exists within a family, which exists within a social context, and it is therefore influenced and determined, to varying degrees, by a variety of external, societal, familial and economic factors. It is therefore observable that in vulnerable areas, or circumstances, father involvement is impacted as is child development. Luton has consistently performed significantly worse than the England average for a variety of outcomes and has increased in rank from the 69th most deprived area of 326 authorities to the 59th between the years 2010 and 2015 (Public Health England, 2016, Department of Health, 2011, Research and Geospatial Information, 2015).