Drawing on her in-depth research of how caring takes place within families, Tina proposes alternative ways of organising roles around childbirth, caring and paid work. Her research has shaped policy and practice both nationally and internationally. Collaborating with the World Health Organization, she contributed to guidelines on safer practices around traditional birth attendants to improve the wellbeing of mothers in lower income countries. In 2017, this led to a key publication on practical ways to promote partnership between traditional birth attendants and skilled practitioners.
Within the UK, Tina has been appointed in an advisory role to work with lead charity for parents, the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), contributing to two major reports on the support needs of new parents. Since 2015, these reports have shaped NCT’s advice to new parents via their website, publications and courses.
Tina’s advocacy at policy committees within the UK and the EU has led to important changes to parenting rights and gender equality. In 2017, at the Parliamentary Women and Equalities Committee’s enquiry into fathers in the workplace, she argued that fathers should be entitled to non-transferable parental leave. Her statement directly informed one of the six recommendations made in the final report, with her call being covered in The Guardian and prompting more than 400 comments on their social media.
Within EU policy circles, she has also influenced the debate. As the only invited UK independent expert, Tina presented the UK situation on paternal involvement in family caring at an EU Gender Equality meeting in 2018. Tina’s contribution was featured in the summary report, in particular her call for childcare to be recognised and promoted as something of value.
