Episode 46

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Published on:

2nd Oct 2024

Making Sense of Parenthood, Caregiving, and Gender - Prof Tina Miller

Despite the growth of discourses around ‘involved fatherhood’ and ‘work-family balance’, parenting remains highly challenging and inequitable, with expectations of parents intensifying and much of the load continuing to fall on mothers. This is despite men demonstrating in a variety of settings their capacity to engage in caregiving just as effectively as women. So what can we can do to make it easier for men to take up care work in its different forms, and to support parents with raising children and building gender equity in the home? 

Prof Tina Miller discusses over two decades of research she has conducted on family life with parents, including a recent study on the experiences of Syrian refugee fathers in the UK and Sweden. This provides a very different picture of the struggles faced by refugees from the negative portrayals that habitually dominate media narratives.  

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Tina is a Professor of Sociology at Oxford Brookes University, UK. She has been an expert advisor to the World Health Organisation, thinktanks and political parties in the UK and EU. 

She has published several books on parenthood with Cambridge University Press.

Tina has also authored/presented a series of BBC Radio 4 Analysis programmes.

Episode timeline

  • Introduction
  • Syrian refugee dads: Representation v reality (02:15-06:33)
  • How services treat refugee mothers and fathers (06:33-09:53)
  • Differences in refugee experiences in Sweden/the UK (09:53-12:42)
  • Syrian dads’ relationships with Western notions of ‘involved’ fatherhood (12:42-15:21)
  • Tina’s experience of interviewing refugee families (15:21-21:16)
  • First-time fathers in the UK (21:16-30:24)
  • Transitions in parenting (30:24-34:19)
  • Break
  • The intensification of parenthood (34:25-38:09)
  • Illusions of work-family balance (38:09-42:40)
  • How we can get men more involved (42:40-45:26)
  • Older men’s caregiving (45:26-48:22)
  • Recruiting more men to the social care sector (48:22-53:10)
  • The beginnings of Tina’s career in the Solomon Islands and Bangladesh (53:10-56:32)
  • Conclusion - Class inequities and parenting; Different family types; Ken Loach’s ‘The Old Oak’; Climate change and refugees; The riots and refugee ambivalence about sharing their stories; Shifting the discourse on migration (56:32-01:03:53)

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About the Podcast

Now and Men
Changing Masculinities, Challenging Norms
What role can men play in achieving gender equality?
Why is feminism good for men?
How are rigid ideas about masculinity holding back our lives—and how are people around the world challenging them?

These are the questions at the heart of Now and Men, a podcast hosted by social researchers Dr Stephen Burrell (Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Australia) and Sandy Ruxton (Independent Researcher and Honorary Fellow at Durham University, UK).

We explore masculinity and change in the lives of men and boys today, diving into issues such as gender-based violence, fatherhood, men’s health, politics and the environment. Grounded in feminist thinking, our conversations connect big ideas to everyday experiences—showing how gender shapes all of us, and how men can be part of building a more equal world.

At a time when regressive versions of masculinity are resurging—amplified by political leaders, online influencers, even podcasters—we spotlight the people pushing back. Each episode features inspiring voices working to engage men and boys in positive, transformative ways and imagining feminist futures.

New episodes drop every month. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts, and join us in exploring what healthy, caring, equitable paths forward can look like for men. Questions or comments? We’d love to hear from you at nowandmen@gmail.com.

About your hosts

Stephen Burrell

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I am a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Melbourne. I'm originally from the UK, and moved to Australia at the beginning of 2024. My research is about men, masculinities, and violence. I am particularly interested in the prevention of men's violence - especially violence against women, and violence against the environment - and promoting care as an alternative. I'm a big fan of feminism, drinking tea, connecting with nature, eating vegan snacks, and listening to heavy metal.

Sandy Ruxton

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Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology at Durham University (UK). Independent researcher, expert on men and masculinities. Previous policy work on human rights, children and families, poverty and social exclusion, and asylum and migration. Programme experience with boys and young men in schools, community, and prisons. Steering Committee member, MenEngage Europe. Volunteer for OX4 Food Crew. Chess-player, bike-rider, tree-hugger. Great grandfather edited Boy's Own Paper, but was sacked.