Father Facts

Here are the top 10 father facts in the U.S., according to www.fatherhood.org:

1. 24 million children (34 percent) live absent their biological father.

2. Nearly 20 million children (27 percent) live in single-parent homes.

3. 1.35 million births (33 percent of all births) in the year 2000 occurred out of wedlock.

4. Approximately 1 million children each year experience the divorce of their parents.

5. Over 3.3 million children live with an unmarried parent and the parent’s cohabiting partner.

6. Fathers who live with their children are more likely to have a close, enduring relationship with their children than those who do not.

7. About 40 percent of children in father-absent homes have not seen their father at all during the past year, and 50 percent of children living absent their father have never set foot in their father’s home.

8. Children who live absent their biological fathers are, on average, at least two to three times more likely to be poor, to use drugs, to experience educational, health, emotional and behavioral problems, to be victims of child abuse and to engage in criminal behavior than their peers who live with their married, biological (or adoptive) parents.

9. From 1960 to 1995, the proportion of children living in single-parent homes tripled, from 9 percent to 27 percent.

10. Children with involved, loving fathers are significantly more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem, exhibit empathy and pro-social behavior, and avoid high-risk behaviors such as drug use, truancy and criminal activity compared to children who have uninvolved fathers.