“[T]he government cannot provide what children need specifically from a father: discipline, structure, protection,” wrote World magazine’s Tim Lamer in a recent article on the impact of fatherlessness. Drawing on US and international data, Lamer points out fatherlessness’s impact on economic disparities and high crime rates, especially in international settings, describing fatherlessness as “the worst systemic injustice in America.”
The economic impact of fatherlessness touches millions of children throughout the U.S., but the effects go far beyond economic outcomes. The Institute for Family Studies recently reported on a study from Social Service Review on the role that involved fathers play in their children’s lives. The study found that over a 10-year period, increased father involvement reduced behavioral outcomes such as aggression, depression, and delinquency by 30-50% in children who did not live with their father, and 80% in children who did live with their father. “The study shows the effects are long lasting, with a father’s earlier life presence having a significant impact on latter adolescent behavior,” wrote Brad Wilcox.
In other words, kids who are having trouble in their teens often lacked a fatherly presence earlier in their lives, not only during their teen years. Cash support—formal or informal—had little effect. It was the social engagement of the fathers that made the big difference.
In Princeton University’s Future of Children report, Melanie Wasserman reports that less than half of the children in the U.S. today grow up with parents who are continuously married. Nearly a quarter of children in the U.S. do not have a father figure in the home. Even if the economic disparities brought about by fatherlessness were removed, fatherlessness would still be a significant loss in a child’s life. Money simply cannot replace dads.
Having a father who is present, invested, and involved plays an essential role in a child’s well-being. Because fathers interact with their children in a different way than mothers do, dads who are involved in their children’s lives help their children develop communication skills and resilience. Just as important is what children learn through observing their parents—daughters learn from their fathers how men should treat them, and boys learn how they should treat women. Girls who experience fatherlessness by the age of 6 are five times more likely to become pregnant in their teens and are more likely to be single mothers, and men who grew up with an absent dad are more likely to become absent dads themselves.
Our culture often portrays fathers as clueless and incompetent, when they are present at all. This is tragic and fails to communicate the value of fathers and the way that they shape their children’s lives. As the church, we need to lead the way in countering this narrative by valuing fatherhood and recognizing that helping children succeed means working to build strong families and marriages and taking the time to be present and invested in the lives of children who are experiencing fatherlessness.
