"In a survey on fatherhood, 60% of fathers surveyed responded that spending time with their children was the best thing they could do for them." —Christopher Cigany Policy Analyst

Special Op-Ed for Community Papers
 

Christopher Cigany  The Family Foundation

About 700 words  First Serial Rights © The Family Foundation

                                                         “My child arrived just the other day,
                                                         He came to the world in the usual way.
                                                         But there were planes to catch and bills to pay,
                                                         He learned to walk while I was away.
                                                         And he was talking ‘fore I knew it, and as he grew,
                                                         He’d say, I’m gonna be like you, dad.”                                              

Harry Chapin’s 1974 “Cats In The Cradle” poignantly depicts the troubled father-son relationship prevalent in many American families today. Chapin’s tale of a father who had been absent and aloof during his son’s childhood coming to the painful realization that his son has, in fact, become just like him, is a storyline all too familiar in America today. Parents today spend roughly 40 percent, or 10-12 hours per week, less time with their children than did parents a generation ago.

In a survey on fatherhood, 60% of fathers surveyed responded that spending time with their children was the best thing they could do for them. However, among children ages 8-12, almost one-third say that they do not spend enough time with their fathers. Too few children experience the simple joys of life such as playing ball in the front yard with dad or helping him fix the car, laughing as he pretends he really knows what he is doing. Fathers who are present make America’s homes better.

Unfortunately today, many homes do not have a father. Consider these troubling statistics:

• Tonight, at least 28 percent of American children will go to sleep in a fatherless home. Worse, at least 60 percent of black American children are living apart from their biological fathers.
• The number of children living apart from their dads has climbed from 5.1 million in 1960 to 16.9 million in 1996.
• Fifty percent of all white children and 75 percent of all black children born in the last two decades are likely to live for some portion of their childhood with only their mothers.

Social research has studied the impact of a father’s absence in the lives of his children. Studies show:

• Fatherless children are nearly twice as likely as those from intact families to drop out of high school.
• Children living apart from their biological fathers are up to 75% more likely to have to repeat a grade of school and 70% more likely to be expelled from school than children living with both parents.
• Compared to females who grow up with their fathers, females from fatherless homes are 111% more likely to have children as teenagers, 164% more likely to have a premarital birth, and 92% more likely to dissolve their own marriages.
• Seventy-two percent of adolescent murderers grew up without their fathers.
• Fatherless children are five times more likely to live in poverty than children living with both parents.

This “Father’s Day” let us honor and recognize the importance of fatherhood and the positive contributions made by involved parents, both biological and adoptive, to the lives of children. 

Those of you who have been blessed with a father who was always present and encouraging, be sure to do something special for him to say “Thank You” for spending his time and sharing experiences with you.

As for me, Dad, I will be coming home soon. “We’ll get together then. You know we’ll have a good time then.”

But I’ll still need to borrow the car keys.

Christopher Cigany is policy analyst with The Family Foundation of Kentucky, a nonprofit educational organization dealing with public policy issues affecting families.