Several newspapers have picked up on this apparently very bad news for stay-at-home dads:

Boys brought up by their fathers during their early years are less well prepared for school, claims a Bristol University study.

The controversial finding comes as more men are taking on childcare responsibilities and schools, politicians and newspaper pundits are united in urging fathers to get more involved in their children’s upbringing.

After looking at the early childcare experiences of over 6,000 children born in the Bristol area in the early 1990s who lived at least their early lives in a household with both parents, Elizabeth Washbrook concludes that some fathers appear not to provide the same quality of intellectual stimulation to their young sons as the children’s mothers do.

“Some” fathers.  Well, surprise surprise.  So that bit at the start should really read: “Some boys brought up by their fathers ...”.

The point of the research is not that stay-at-home dads are doomed to failure whatever they do.  No, what they say is that stay-at-home dads tend not to do enough.  So the moral is not: go back to work you sandal-wearing twat.  The moral is: do a bit more and all will be well.

It’s always interesting to ask of any bit of research into human behaviour: if everyone knew this, would it remain true?  In this case, maybe not.  Or, not so much.