The government should create a national programme of classes to help parents, a group of MPs and peers have recommended.

The recommendation follows a recent Parliamentary Inquiry into Parenting and Social Mobility which found that parenting has a strong influence on a child’s life trajectory.

Such classes can often be subject to stigma, but this could be overcome if the national programme was properly promoted, the report claimed.

The recommendation was one of several made in a report by members of two All Party Parliamentary Groups: one on Parents and Families, and one on Social Mobility. Another suggestion was a ‘fathers and children’ reading campaign to be funded by the national government and provided locally.

Baroness Claire Tyler chaired the inquiry. She said that “for too long fathers have been woefully neglected by local and national government in the narrative about children’s early development”.

The report also called for the creation of a Cabinet-level position called the ‘Minister of Families’, who would be to work across the various governmental departments to assist in the creation and implementation of new policies.

The ‘family test’ for new policies should also be strengthened, the report suggested, in order to “ensure that families are supported by government, including through relationship support and parenting skills”.

To access the full report, click here.

Photo by Rob Allen via Flickr