According to a 1996 Gallup Poll, 79.1% of Americans feel “the most significant family or social problem facing America is the physical absence of the father from the home” , up from 69.9% in 1992. Source: Gallup Poll, 1996. National Center for Fathering. “Father Figures.” Today’s Father 4.1 (1996): 8.

A survey of over 20,000 parents found that when fathers are involved in their children’s education including (school meetings and volunteering at school) children were more likely to get A’s, enjoy school, and participate in extracurricular activities and less likely to have repeated a grade. Source: Fathers’ Involvement in Their Children’s Schools. National Center for Education Statistics. Washington DC: GPO, 1997.

A study using a national probability sample of 1,250 fathers showed that children whose fathers share meals, spend leisure time with them, or help them with reading or homework do significantly better academically than those children whose fathers do not. Source: Cooksey, Elizabeth C. and Michelle M. Fondell. “Spending Time with His Kids: Effects of Family Structure on Fathers’ and Children’s Lives.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 58 (August 1996): 693-707.

“...for girls, studies link a sense of competence in daughters - especially in mathematics and a sense of femininity - to a close, warm relationship with their father.” Source: Radin, N. and G. Russell. “Increased Father Participation and Child Development Outcomes.” Fatherhood and Family Policy. Eds. M.E. Lamb and A. Sagi. Hillside Lawrence Erlbaum, 1983: 191-218.

In a sample of 455 adolescents, 14 to 19, “students with higher self-esteem and lower depression reported having greater intimacy with their fathers.” Source: Field/Tiffany et al. “Adolescents’ Intimacy With Parents and Friends.” Adolescence 30.117: 133-140.

In a 26 year longitudinal study (79 individuals) it was found the single most important childhood factor in developing empathy is paternal involvement. Fathers who spent time alone with their kids performing routine child care at least two times a week, raised children who were the most compassionate adults. Source: Koestner, Richard, Carol Franz, and Joel Weinberger. “The Family Origins of Empathic Concern: A Twenty-Six Year Longitudinal Study.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 58 (1990): 709-717.

When both boys and girls are reared with engaged fathers they demonstrate “a greater ability to take initiative and evidence self-control.” Source: Pruett, K.D. The Nurturing Father. New York: Warner Books, 1987.

Using a representative household sample of over 600 Buffalo, New York, adolescents and their parents, researchers found that white adolescents in single mother families who were involved with their non-resident fathers had lower incidence of delinquency, heavy drinking, and drug use than their peers living with a single mother with no father involvement. Source: Thomas, George, Michael P. Farrell, and Grace M. Barnes. “The Effects of Single-Mother Families and Nonresident Fathers on Delinquency and Substance Abuse in Black and White Adolescents.” Journal of Marriage and the Family 58 (November 1996): 884-894.

Children with fathers at home tend to do better in school, are less prone to depression and are more successful in relationships. Children from one-parent families achieve less and get into trouble more than children from two-parent families. Source: One-Parent Families and Their Children: The School’s Most Significant Minority. The Consortium for the Study of School Needs of Children from One-Parent Families. National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Institute for Development of Educational Activities, a division of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. Arlington, VA. 1980.

“...the absence of the father from the home results in greater use of alcohol and marijuana.” Source: Beman, Deane Scott. “Risk Factors Leading to Adolescent Substance Abuse.” Adolescence 30 (1995): 201-206.

A study using a nationally representative sample of over 6,300 teenagers found that for the white children in the sample, father involvement is associated with better quantitative and verbal skills, intellectual functioning, and overall academic achievement. Source: Goldstein, Harris S. “Fathers’ Absence and Cognitive Development of 12-17 Year Olds.” Psychological Reports 51 (1982): 843-848.

Fathers Totally Absent

Fatherless children are five times more likely to live in poverty, compared to children living with both parents. Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics. Survey on Child Health. Washington, DC, 1993.

“A white teenage girl from an advantaged background is five times more likely to become a teen mother if she grows up in a single-mother household than if she grows up in a household with both biological parents.” Source: Whitehead, Barbara Dafoe. “Facing the Challenges of Fragmented Families.” The Philanthropy Roundtable 9.1 (1995): 21.

Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school. Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics. Survey on Child Health. Washington, DC: GPO, 1993.