By Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter 
OFTEN DESCRIBED as 'wutliss' by many single mothers who are faced with the financial burden and emotional strain of raising their children, many Jamaican fathers are, however, changing this negative image.
Herbert Gayle, chairman of Fathers Incorporated, a group
comprised of Jamaican male
parents, said that Jamaican fathers were showing that they were responsible in other ways but
that these were not being
recognised.
PERCEPTION
He said that the thinking that most Jamaicans fathers were 'wutliss' was more of a perception. "Much of the stuff that
have been said about men is
erroneous," he said. "The primary perceived role of men are for
financial support." However, in
failing to fill this role, the status of the father declines in the
family.
Mr. Gayle said that an unpublished study, which he recently completed, showed that "Once a male is not in a situation where he is providing for the family, he is not valued. Far more men are involved in the nurturing of their children, but there is no value attached to this.
"Far more men are responsible than it is made out to be. There is an explanation of the majority who are said not to be responsible men are absent because they cannot take care of the children. The more we can drive the family to full employment, the more things will change."
Evidence of this change is also being noticed at the Registrar General's Department (RGD), which sees the continued trend of fathers adding their names to their children's birth certificates.
According to Bryan Aikman, deputy chief executive officer at the RGD, more Jamaican fathers are now coming forward to have their names added to their children's birth certificates.
"There is definitely a trend for fathers to add their particulars to their child's birth certificate. It has not been a great change (in terms of numbers), but it is a positive trend," said Mr. Aikman, in an interview with The Sunday Gleaner.
He said that the statistics were showing the changes. In 2000, of 54,035 births, 43 per cent or 23,168 fathers were not recorded on the birth certificates. In 2001, of 53,659 births, 42 per cent or 22,712 children were registered without their fathers' particulars. In 2002, 41 per cent or 19,669 of the 48,104 children born did not have their fathers name on their birth certificates. But that is as far as the reductions went as last year, 46 per cent or 20,728 children had their father absent from their birth certificates and possibly their lives. There were 45,133 births in 2003.
Explaining the statistics, Mr. Aikman said, "Our men are becoming more sensitised about the importance of adding their names and more and more men are stepping up to the plate."
He explained that adding the father's name to the children's birth certificates was essential, as it had far-reaching implications when it is not done. One such problem, he said, was in the case where the father plans to send for the child after emigrating while the other was in terms of estate matters.
In terms of estate matters, he noted, "When there is no link between the child and the father, it becomes difficult (for the child)," he said.
STEREOTYPES
A 1993 study done by the University of the West Indies entitled, 'The Contribution of Caribbean Men to the Family' also supported the point. The study showed that while Caribbean women were the
primary caregiver or that many fulfilled this role without their children's father in the home, the results confirmed that men are more involved in family life than popular stereotypes suggest.
The men surveyed had clear ideas about what a good father should be and defined their responsibility in both financial and educational terms. The majority reported active and often daily participation in
tidying, playing with and reasoning with their children, and in helping with homework.
The research also provided evidence of the powerful
influence of economic conditions on procreation patterns: in the sample, the men with the most
education and white-collar employment were most likely to be in a marriage or common-law union after age 30, and have fewer children.
