Fathers have a powerful and positive impact upon the development and health of children, and they also play a vital role in fueling the nation’s — and their family’s — economic success.
Kids without caring, committed fathers are more likely to grow up in poverty. Absent fathers also increase a child’s likelihood that they will perform poorly in school, struggle with their emotions, engage in risky behaviors and experience violence during their childhood.
Families without fathers also suffer financially. Across America, 35% of all kids — nearly 24 million children — are growing up in a single-parent family. Most these single parents are women, and too many are facing financial hardships. In 2017, for example, 31% of single-parent families had incomes below the poverty line compared to just 7% of married couples with children.