A new ‘explainer’ from Understanding Society sets out how the Welsh Government has used Understanding Society data to look at changes in parenting approaches between 2012 and 2022, before its Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Act 2020 came into force.
The Act was designed to protect children by prohibiting physical punishment, and is one of a number of initiatives which aim to encourage positive, authoritative parenting.
The research defined four styles of parenting:
- authoritarian – high demands for obedience, low warmth, and harsh discipline
- uninvolved – not demanding, but also providing few expectations and little support
- permissive – high responsiveness to a child’s emotional needs, but struggling to set boundaries
- authoritative – a warm, nurturing environment with firm limits and boundaries.
The report found that “authoritarian and uninvolved parenting styles have more negative implications” for children showing maladaptive behaviour such as lying, cheating, or being hyperactive, compared to authoritative and permissive styles.
There were differences between groups of parents, including by:
- gender – fathers were more likely to be uninvolved or permissive, mothers more likely to be authoritative
- ethnicity – parents from Asian or Black ethnic groups were more likely to be authoritarian than White or mixed ethnicity parents (and White parents were more likely to be uninvolved than Black parents)
- socioeconomic status – unemployed parents were more likely to be uninvolved, and less likely to be authoritative, than parents who weren’t unemployed. Parents from higher income groups were more likely to be permissive compared to those from lower income groups.
The researchers suggest that the framework they have developed could be used to evaluate changes following the 2020 law change, and to monitor changes in levels of physical punishment. Future research could also explore differences between groups which adopt different parenting styles, potentially highlighting the children who are most at risk of negative developmental outcomes.
Family and householdsFindings and impactInforming PolicyPolitics and social attitudes
