ABSTRACT
Father involvement in early childhood care and education is critical to child development. However, most studies rely on the dominant indicators from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS-MICS), to assess paternal involvement. This can lead to errors of analysis because contextual specificities are not taken into account. This study utilized a mixed method approach by supplementing analysis of DHS-MICS indicators with qualitative interview data on father involvement in Cameroon and in Congo. Findings show that, contrary to the DHS-MICS analysis, interviews conducted with mothers revealed that many fathers are very much involved in their children’s lives in ways that are not adequately captured by mainstream indicators.
