MPR News with Angela Davis

Fatherhood during the pandemic and beyond

A dad and his father stand next to a grill.
Anthony Edwards and his daughter, Na’riyha, grill out near Lake Nokomis during a heat wave in Minneapolis on June 8.
Tim Evans | MPR News file

What was it like to be a father during this year of racial reckoning, COVID-19 quarantine and distance learning? 

We know that mothers took on the bulk of the child care burden and schooling during the pandemic and were more likely to leave the workforce than fathers. But dads had their challenges, too, and were even more likely than moms to say they needed emotional support during the pandemic.

Host Angela Davis talks to two fathers and listeners about the past year — what they missed, what they longed for and how to support young fathers.  

Guests 

  • Corey Yeager is a psychotherapist and life coach for the Detroit Pistons. He has a PhD in family social science from the University of Minnesota and runs the counseling and consulting business Harmony Road. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and three sons. 

  • Guy Bowling is director of the FATHER Project, a program of Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota that works with young, low-income, non-custodial fathers. He speaks locally and nationally about fatherhood and has two grown children and two grandchildren.