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The Daily Signal
The Importance
of Dads in an Increasingly Fatherless America
Virginia Allen
June 14, 2018
There is a growing split taking place among American fathers today.
On the one hand, more and more children are growing up without a dad in
their lives. But on the other hand, fathers who are involved in their
kids’ lives have actually become even more active.
The Pew Research Center reports that fathers who live in the same home
as their children have become increasingly engaged in the lives of
their kids over the past half-century. In 2015, fathers reported
spending an average of 7 hours a week interacting with their children,
compared with 2.5 hours in 1965.
Today, 57 percent of dads say they see parenting as a central part of
their identity.
This encouraging shift in fatherhood involvement could be owing, at
least in part, to the greater amounts of research showing the
importance of a father’s role in the life of his child. Nonprofits like
Focus on the Family have championed the role of fathers and have
promoted well-researched materials to back up their claims.
While it’s true more fathers are taking the time to come home from work
and throw the football around with their kid, an increasing number of
children find themselves without an active paternal presence in their
lives.
Pew reports that only 11 percent of American children lived apart from
their dads in 1960. Today, that number has grown to 27 percent. One in
every three American children are now growing up in a home without
their biological father.
There is a “father absence crisis in America,” according to National
Fatherhood Initiative, and the results are sobering.
Studies have found that children raised without a father are:
At a higher risk of having behavioral problems.
Four times more likely to live in poverty.
More likely to be incarcerated in their lifetime.
Twice as likely to never graduate high school.
At a seven times higher risk of teen pregnancy.
More vulnerable to abuse and neglect.
More likely to abuse drugs and alcohol.
Twice as likely to be obese.
From education to personal health to career success, children who lack
a father find themselves at a disadvantage to their peers raised in a
two-parent household.
A 2017 Heritage Foundation article reported that “routine family
bonding activities like reading bedtime stories and eating meals
together have a profound effect on children’s educational development
and psychological well-being.”
Simply put: Dads, we need you.
As I reflect back upon my own childhood and the role my dad played, and
is still playing in my life, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude.
My father is far from perfect, but he was present.
School was challenging for me as a kid, so my dad often took time to
help me with my homework after he got home from work. I remember
sitting on our living room couch struggling to understand my math
homework with my dad’s instruction.
To be honest, I’m not sure he was much of a help—but he was there. I
have always known that my dad was there for me, not just because he
told me he was, but because he showed me. The greatest gift my father
has ever given me was his time.
So to the fathers who have sacrificed for their children, who have
worked to be involved in each day of their child’s life, thank you.
Your children will always remember your involvement in their lives.
And to the fathers who would like to do more, remember the importance
of your role. It is not about being perfect, but being present.
Read this and other articles at The Daily Signal
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