THE CONSEQUENCES OF FATHERLESSNESS....

 

Some fathering advocates would say that almost every social ill faced by America’s children is related to fatherlessness. Here are a few...

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• Poverty

• Drug and Alcohol Abuse

• Physical and Emotional Health 

• Educational achievement

• Crime

• Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy

 

Statistics

 

• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.

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• 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.

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• 85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average.  (Center for Disease Control)

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• 80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes –14 times the average.  (Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26)

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• 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average.  (National Principals Association Report)

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Father Factor in Education - Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school.

 

• Children with Fathers who are involved are 40% less likely to repeat a grade in school.

 

• Children with Fathers who are involved are 70% less likely to drop out of school.

 

• Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to get A’s in school.

 

• Children with Fathers who are involved are more likely to enjoy school and engage in extracurricular activities.

 

• 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average.

 

Father Factor in Drug and Alcohol Abuse - Researchers at Columbia University found that children living in two-parent household with a poor relationship with their father are 68% more likely to smoke, drink, or use drugs compared to all teens in two-parent households. Teens in single mother households are at a 30% higher risk than those in two-parent households.

 

• 70% of youths in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average.  (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Sept. 1988)

 

• 85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average.  (Fulton Co. Georgia, Texas Dept. of Correction)

 

Father Factor in Incarceration – Even after controlling for income, youths in father-absent households still had significantly higher odds of incarceration than those in mother-father families. Youths who never had a father in the household experienced the highest odds. A 2002 Department of Justice survey of 7,000 inmates revealed that 39% of jail inmates lived in mother-only households. Approximately forty-six percent of jail inmates in 2002 had a previously incarcerated family member.  One-fifth experienced a father in prison or jail.

 

Father Factor in Crime - A study of 109 juvenile offenders indicated that family structure significantly predicts delinquency. Adolescents, particularly boys, in single-parent families were at higher risk of status, property and person delinquencies. Moreover, students attending schools with a high proportion of children of single parents are also at risk. A study of 13,986 women in prison showed that more than half grew up without their father. Forty-two percent grew up in a single-mother household and sixteen percent lived with neither parent

 

Father Factor in Child Abuse – Compared to living with both parents, living in a single-parent home doubles the risk that a child will suffer physical, emotional, or educational neglect. The overall rate of child abuse and neglect in single-parent households is 27.3 children per 1,000, whereas the rate of overall maltreatment in two-parent households is 15.5 per 1,000.

 

Daughters of single parents without a Father involved are 53% more likely to marry as teenagers, 711% more likely to have children as teenagers, 164% more likely to have a pre-marital birth and 92% more likely to get divorced themselves.

 

Adolescent girls raised in a 2 parent home with involved Fathers are significantly less likely to be sexually active than girls raised without involved Fathers.

 

• 43% of US children live without their father [US Department of Census]

 

• 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]

 

• 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes. [Criminal Justice & Behaviour, Vol 14, pp. 403-26, 1978]

 

• 71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father. [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release, Friday, March 26, 1999]

 

• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]

 

• 85% of children who exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes. [Center for Disease Control]

 

• 90% of adolescent repeat arsonists live with only their mother. [Wray Herbert, “Dousing the Kindlers,” Psychology Today, January, 1985, p. 28]

 

• 71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. [National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools]

 

• 75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes. [Rainbows f for all God’s Children]

 

• 70% of juveniles in state operated institutions have no father. [US Department of Justice, Special Report, Sept. 1988]

 

• 85% of youths in prisons grew up in a fatherless home. [Fulton County Georgia jail populations, Texas Department of Corrections, 1992]

 

Fatherless boys and girls are: twice as likely to drop out of high school; twice as likely to end up in jail; four times more likely to need help for emotional or behavioral problems. [US D.H.H.S. news release, March 26, 1999]