The number of lone parent families are overstated in official statistics that risk airbrushing fathers out of family life after divorce or separation, a major study warned yesterday.

Data recorded by public bodies has frequently ignored the involvement of fathers who did not live with their children, even if they shared care equally with their ex-partners, the report by the Fatherhood Institute found.

It warned the missing ‘dad data’ could impact on government policy as it did not accurately reflect the involvement of non-resident fathers in their children’s lives and could fail to address their needs.

Fathers who care for their children risk being ignored in statistics that overstate the number of lone parent families

According to the Office for National Statistics, there are some 2.43million lone parent households where the mother is the only parent, and around 386,000 where the father is the sole parent.

But the Fatherhood Institute’s joint chief executive Adrienne Burgess said one in 10 separated parents shared care of their children equally, meaning the children should be described as having ‘two households’ rather than a lone parent.

A further four in 10 separated parents continued to have some shared care, even if it was not shared equally, she said.

She called on the Government to review its data policies to avoid ‘airbrushing’ out fathers, saying: ‘It is unacceptable that these systems fail to record the role that millions of fathers and father-figures play in their [children’s] lives. Fathers play a vital role in the day-to-day care of children.

‘Today, four million children do not live full-time with both their birth parents. Public services should not be ignoring their dads.’

The three-year study, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, found statistics recorded by public bodies had failed to keep pace with the changes in family structure.

A further four in 10 separated parents continued to have some shared care, even if it was not shared equally

It traditionally recorded whether the father was living with the mother, rather than whether the child lived alternately with both parents.

The study found data on fathers who did not live full-time with their children was frequently meagre or non-existent, and even classed such men as childless.

Rebecca Goldman, the lead author of the institute’s report, said: ‘We must put dads into the data.

‘The large research datasets that we studied are drawn upon by hundreds of researchers and policy makers every year, to understand and shape social practices.

‘Yet the insights most of the datasets afford into father-child relationships and patterns of care are often inadequate.’