Purposeful Power Player

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Father Facts

Father Facts
Top Ten Father Facts

  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 2000 occurred out of wedlock.

  4. 43 percent of first marriages dissolve within fifteen years; about 60 percent of divorcing couples have children; and approximately one 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. The number of cohabiting couples with children has nearly doubled since 1990, from 891,000 to 1.7 million today.

  6. Fathers who live with their children are more likely to have a close, enduring relationship with their children than those who do not. The best predictor of father presence is marital status. Compared to children born within marriage, children born to cohabiting parents are three times as likely to experience father absence, and children born to unmarried, non-cohabiting parents are four times as likely to live in a father-absent home.

  7. About 40 percent of children in father-absent homes have not seen their father at all during the past year; 26 percent of absent fathers live in a different state than their children; 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, and the proportion of children living with married parents declined. However, from 1995 to 2000, the proportion of children living in single-parent homes slightly declined, while the proportion of children living with two married parents remained stable.

  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.



Now I don't necessarily believe all of this....I am a single mother and my daughters are well adjusted people....well, I believe for now they are....

My oldest is an "A" student at a private school and my youngest (who is only 2.5) is very sweet and helpful. Now I'll admit, I have my issues with their dads, but I feel as if I shower my children with so much love it's like they are getting a mom and a dad in one.

Because I am the only parent they have to really discpline them and I am the parent that esstenially gives them permission....they can't play the two against the middle game. They only have one player to turn to....ME.....such limited options, perhaps but we are all on the same page as how things go in our house.

Now I will admit that I as a single parent, I don't have some of the relaxation luxuries as maybe other parents who are married or living with their S/O have. I am constantly "stuck" perhaps with my daughters....we do EVERYTHING together. It's been a while since I've been to the movies....EVERY recent movie I've seen....is because of NETFLIX.....

Yes, I am tired, because I make all the decisions....but somehow I get the feeling that married parents are having some of the same issues....I have learned from my married friends, just because they are married doesn't mean they always get the support they need from one another, thus making it almost like a single parent family home.

Such as life I guess......

1 comment:

  1. One of the biggest expectations I had about being married was the idea that it would be a partnership. I don't know where I got that from ;-D

    Turned out that he ended up being the CEO and I was the Executive Vice-President in Charge of Schlepping. (I fired him.)

    I do worry about how lack of a positive male presence will effect her self esteem with men.

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