For Jin Yao Kwan, the old proverb "it takes a village to raise a child" isn't just a saying—it's backed by research. The University of Delaware assistant professor and child development researcher recently co-authored a study that reveals just how powerful that village can be for reducing parental stress.
Published in the journal Families in Society, the study examined 174 pairs of co-parents—most of whom were no longer living together—enrolled in the Nurturing Dads and Partners (NDAP) program in Colorado. The program, which integrated a home visitation component called "Dads Matter-HV," was designed to reduce barriers to father engagement by improving the quality of co-parenting relationships and supporting fathers in their roles.
What the researchers found challenges a persistent assumption about parenting. "The conventional notion is that moms, on average, are still more involved than dads, and that's still true," Kwan said. "But if we persist in that notion, then we may create blind spots for ourselves and miss opportunities to get fathers more involved."
The data told a different story: both mothers and fathers who engaged in strong co-parenting directly experienced lower levels of parenting stress. "As they became more involved as parents, they evaluated each other's co-parenting more positively and experienced lower levels of parenting stress overall," Kwan explained. The implications extend beyond individual families to the health of parents and the entire family unit.
One participant's journey illustrates the transformation the program can enable. "In Colorado, one of the fathers in our study said he couldn't stand the sight of his former partner at the beginning," Kwan shared. "But by the end, his relationship with her changed when he began to reflect on his own parenting and see how it was more valuable to work with his co-parent rather than against her."
Kwan recommends that separated or divorced parents prioritize the child's well-being as a first step toward better co-parenting. Many states, including Delaware, now offer divorce education programs with this goal in mind—not to reunite couples, but to help parents find ways to collaborate for their children's sake.
For fathers navigating these transitions, Kwan emphasizes the power of peer connection. "Fathers benefit when they get to talk about and reflect on their own parenting with other fathers," he said. "Your identity as a father can be shaped by feeling seen as a father by other fathers." Social work agencies, hospitals, and community organizations increasingly offer programs to help fathers build these connections and strengthen their parenting and co-parenting skills.
As Father\u2019s Day approaches, Kwan\u2019s research offers a hopeful reminder: when fathers are supported and involved, the benefits ripple through the whole family.