Stay-at-home dads not good for sons

London, Nov 19 (UNI) Fathers who stay home to bring up their sons, could damage their child's future chances in life, a research found.

The survey suggests that boys who are looked after as infants by dads who stay at home, are slower and less ready for education than other children when they start school.

However, the same is not true for girls.

Researchers investigated 6,000 families to find what happens when traditional roles are swapped in the family.

Elizabeth Washbrook, of Bristol University, said,''We should not simply assume that children will be unaffected by the dismantling of traditional gender roles but consider their needs, as well as those of their parents.'' The project was financed by British Government's Economic and Social Research Council.

Dr Washbrook said,''I find robust evidence that boys - but not girls - who spent at least 15 hours a week in paternal care when they were toddlers performed worse on academic assessments when they started school,'' the daily mail reported.

The study suggested reasons for mothers being better at looking after children than fathers.

It said women might be more confident and more skilled at bringing up children, and that there might be ''harmful emotional effects'' from the absence of a mother.

''If maternal absence is due to employment that increases tiredness and stress, it reduces a mother's sensitivity to a child's needs,'' she said.

UNI