[Image] [Image] Father Facts Wade F. Horn, Ph.D. National Fatherhood Initiative ------------------------------------------------------------ Educational Problems "One father is more than a hundred school masters." 17th Century English Proverb "Children of single parents are less likely to complete high school and more likely to have low earnings and low employment stability as adults than children raised in two parent families." Columnist Christopher Farrell, 1992 Parental Involvement and Father Absence Families in which both of the childŐs biological or adoptive parents are present in the household show significantly higher levels of parental involvement in the childŐs school activities than do mother-only families or stepfamilies. Source: Nicholas Zill and Christine Winquist Nord, Running in Place: How American Families are Faring in a Changing Economy and An Individualistic Society, Child Trends, Inc., Washington, DC, (1994): 45-46. Children living in single-parent or step-families report lower educational expectations on the part of their parents, less monitoring of school work by mothers and fathers, and less overall supervision of social activities than children from intact families. Source: Nan Marie Astore and Sara S. McLanahan, "Family Structure, Parental Practices and High School Completion," American Sociological Review 56 (1991): 309-320. School Achievement and Father Absence In a study of 157 adolescents living in Utah, researchers found that boys in single parent families spent an average of 3.5 hours less studying per week than boys who lived with both biological parents. Source: Cathleen D. Zick and Corinne Roylance Allen, "The Impact of ParentsŐ Marital Status on the Time Adolescents Spend in Productive Activities," Family Relations, 45 (1996): 65-71. In a study using a national probability sample of 1,250 fathers of school aged children, it was found that children who lived with both biological parents did better in school than children in all other family types. Children living with single, biological fathers and children living with step fathers did significantly worse academically than children living with both biological parents. Source: Elizabeth C. Cooksey and Michelle M. Fondell, "Spending Time with His Kids: Effects of Family Structure on FathersŐ and ChildrenŐs Lives," Journal of Marriage and the Family 58 (August 1996): 693-707. In studies involving over 25,000 children using nationally representative data sets, children who lived with only one parent had lower grade point averages, lower college aspirations, poorer attendance records, and higher drop out rates than students who lived with both parents. Source: Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1994. [Image] A study using a nationally representative sample of over 20,000 eighth graders from 970 schools found that students who attended schools with a high concentration of students from single parent-households had math and reading achievement scores that were 11% and 10% lower respectively, than students who attended schools with a higher concentration of two-parent households, even after controlling for differences in student background and demographic characteristics. Source: Suet-Ling Pong, "Family Structure, School Context, and Eighth-Grade Math and Reading Achievement," Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 59 (August 1997): 734-746. At least one-third of children experiencing a parental separation "demonstrated a significant decline in academic performance" persisting at least three years. Source: L.M.C. Bisnairs, P. Fireston and D. Rynard, "Factors Associated with Academic Achievement in Children Following Parental Separation," American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 60 (1990): 67-76. In a study which tracked the development of 375,000 high school students between 1960 and 1971, children born out-of-wedlock were found to have lower cognitive scores and lower educational aspirations than children born to a married couple. This effect was especially strong for boys. Source: J.J. Card, "Long Term Consequences for Children of Teenage Parents," Demography 18 (1981): 137-156. "Young children in single-mother families tend to have lower scores on verbal and math achievement tests." Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Report to Congress on Out-of -Wedlock Childbearing, Hyattsville, MD (Sept. 1995): 12. In a study of 378 black children between the ages of 6 to 9 years old, black children in mother-only households scored significantly lower on tests of intellectual ability than black children living with two parents. Source: Tom Luster and Harriette Pipes McAdoo, "Factors Related to the Achievement and Adjustment of Young African-American Children," Child Development 65 (1994): 1080-1094. A study on 1,700 seventh and ninth grade South Carolina students indicated that children whose parents were divorced had lower grades than their peers whose parents had stayed together, even after controlling for parental occupation, education, race, and family size. Source: Thomas Ewin Smith, "What a Difference a Measure Makes: Parental Separation Effect on School Grades, Not Academic Achievement," Journal of Marriage and Divorce 23 (1995): 151-164. Based on a study of 17,110 children, researchers found that a child who did not live with both biological parents was 45% to 90% more likely to have been the subject of a parent teacher conference than a child who lived with both biological parents. Source: Deborah Dawson, "Family Structure and ChildrenŐs Health and Well-Being: Interview Survey on Child Health," Journal of Marriage and the Family 53 (August 1991): 573-584. An analysis on a random sample of 391 Baltimore first graders found that single parents had lower educational expectations than parents in two parent households. Upon entering first grade, children who lived with both biological parents scored higher on math and reading tests than children in all other family types. As children progressed through school, the performance gap widened. The study also found that 30% of the children from single parent homes had behavior described as "needing improvement" while only 15-20% of the children from two parent homes had behavior described as "needing improvement." Source: Doris R. Entwisle and Karl L. Alexander, "Family Type and ChildrenŐs Growth in Reading and Math Over the Primary Grades," Journal of Marriage and the Family 58 (1996): 341-355. A study on the effects of maternal depression on 44 eighth grade girls found that those who lived with their single mother had lower educational expectations and grades than girls who lived with both biological parents. Source: Susan B. Silverburg, Mary S. Marczak, and Dawn M. Gondoli, "Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Achievement Related Outcomes: Variations by Family Structure," Journal of Early Adolescence, 16 (1996) 90-109. Repeated Grade and Father Absence Nationally, 29.7 percent of children living with a never-married mother and 21.5 percent of children living with a divorced mother have repeated a grade in school, compared to only 11.6 percent of children living with both biological parents. Source: Debra Dawson, "Family Structure and ChildrenŐs Well-Being: Data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey," Journal of Marriage and the Family 53 (1991). The proportion of children who had repeated a grade was far lower when the child lived with both biological parents than when the child lived in a non-intact family (12% vs. 22-30%). Source: L. Remez, "Children Who DonŐt Live with Both Parents Face Behavioral Problems," Family Planning Perspectives (January/February 1992). School Drop-Out Rates and Father Absence Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school. Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, DC, 1993. Using five different, nationally representative samples of young adults, it was found that children from one-parent homes are about twice as likely to drop out of high school as children who live with both biological parents. Students who experienced family disruption have drop out rates that are higher than students who did not experience family disruption. The differences are: * 17 percentage points among whites * 13 percentage points among blacks * 24 percentage points among Hispanics Source: Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1994, 58. A longitudinal study using a nationally representative sample of over 5,000 young adults showed that only 68% of children who lived in families with one biological parent received their high school diploma by age 20 compared to 87% of children who live with both biological parents. Source: Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1994, 9. Family disruption increases the risk of high school dropout for students, on average, by: * 150% for whites * 76% for blacks * 100% for Hispanics Source: Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1994, 58. "After taking into account race, socioeconomic status, sex, age, and ability, high school students from single-parent households were 1.7 times more likely to drop out than were their corresponding counterparts living with both biological parents." Source: Ralph B. McNeal, Jr., "Extracurricular Activities and High School Dropouts," Sociology of Education 68 (1995): 62-81. A study using a nationally representative sample of over 5,000 youths showed that the dropout rate for white children living with a single parent is substantially higher at 28% than the dropout rate for black children who live with both parents which is 17%. Source: Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1994, 58-59. In studies involving over 25,000 children using nationally representative data sets, children who lived with only one parent had lower grade point averages, lower college aspirations, poorer attendance records, and higher drop out rates than students who lived with both parents. Source: Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1994. Graduation Rates and Father Absence A study of 549 young adults born out-of-wedlock found that the graduation rate depended heavily on living arrangements during childhood. Graduation rates were: * 96% for those raised by their adoptive or biological parents who subsequently married * 78% for those raised in stepfamilies * 73% for those raised by their never-married mothers Source: William S. Aquilino, "The Life Course of Children Born to Unmarried Parents: Childhood Living Arrangements and Young Adult Outcomes," Journal of Marriage and the Family 58 (1996): 293-310. A study using a nationally representative sample of over 5,000 youths indicated that for white, middle class children whose parents divorced, the college graduation rate was 9 percentage points lower than their peers who grew up with both parents. The college graduation rate for white, middle class women whose parents had divorced was 12 percentage points lower than for women who grew up with their married parents. Source: Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1994, 60. A study of 60 middle and upper middle class divorced families found that more than half of the children ended up with less education than their parents. Source: Judith Wallerstein, from keynote address given at the Second International Congress on Rights of Children, San Francisco, June 6, 1997. Analysis of data from the 1979-1985 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth found that children who live with both biological parents at age 14 are significantly more likely to graduate from high school compared to those who at age 14 live with a single parent, a biological parent and a stepparent, or neither parent. Source: Gary D. Sandefur, Sara McLanahan and Robert A. Wojtkiewicz, "The Effects of Parental Marital Status During Adolescence on High School Graduation," Social Forces (September 1992): 103-121. According to one study, only 67 percent of students from disrupted families attended college compared with 85 percent of students from intact, two-parent families who attended the same high school. Source: Judith Wallerstein and Shanna Corbin, "Father-Child Relationships After Divorce: Child Support and Educational Opportunity," Family Law Quarterly 20 (Summer 1986). In general, the longer the time spent in a single-parent family, the greater the reduction in educational attainment. White men who spent an average of 5.1 years in a single-parent family completed 0.5 fewer years of schooling than those who spent none; white men who spent all 18 years in a single-parent family completed 1.7 fewer years of schooling compared to those who spent none. For black men, the comparable figures are 0.6 and 1.3 years, respectively. Controlling for income does not noticeably reduce the magnitude of the effect. Source: Sheila Fitzgerald and Andrea H. Bellar, "Educational Attainment of Children From Single Parent Families: Differences by Exposure, Gender, and Race," Demography 25 (1988): 221-223. School Disciplinary Problems and Father Absence Students without fathers or with stepfathers were less likely to have peers who thought it important to behave well in school. Source: Nicholas Zill and Christine Winquist Nord, Running in Place: How American Families are Faring in a Changing Economy and An Individualistic Society, Child Trends, Inc., Washington, DC, (1994). Nationally, 15.3 percent of children living with a never married mother and 10.7 percent of children living with a divorced mother have been expelled or suspended from school, compared to only 4.4 percent of children living with both biological parents. Source: Debra Dawson, "Family Structure and ChildrenŐs Well-Being: Data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey," Journal of Marriage and Family 53 (1991). A study of 28 families found that, according to teacher reports, children of single mothers had more behavior problems, poorer school performance, and were less adept socially than children of married mothers. Source: Marcy Gringlas and Marsha Weinraub, "The More Things Change...Single Parenting Revisited," Journal of Family Issues, 16 (1995): 29-52. Children from single-parent families and stepfamilies, compared to children living in intact, two-parent families, exhibit more behavior problems in school, even after controlling for the fact of family disruption. Source: Nicholas Zill and Christine Winquist Nord, Running In Place: How American Families Are Faring In A Changing Economy and An Individualistic Society, Child Trends, Inc., Washington, DC, (1994): 52. A study using a nationally representative sample of over 2,300 youths found that both black and white students from single-parent homes were more likely to have discipline problems than students who lived with both biological parents. Source: Jerold Heiss, "Effects of African American Family Structure on School Attitudes and Performance," Social Problems 43 (1996): 246-264. Compared to peers in two-parent homes, black children in single-parent households are more likely to engage in troublesome behavior. Source: Tom Luster and Hariette Pipes McAdoo, "Factors Related to the Achievement and Adjustment of Young African-American Children," Child Development 65 (1994): 1080-1094. Children who were living with both biological parents were nearly two to four times less likely than other children to have been expelled or suspended from school (4 percent versus 9-15 percent) Source: L. Remez, "Children Who DonŐt Live with Both Parents Face Behavioral Problems," Family Planning Perspectives (January/February 1992). Children in single parent homes are more likely to be truant or to have disciplinary action taken against them. Source: One-Parent Families and Their Children: The SchoolŐs Most Significant Minority, conducted by The Consortium for the Study of School Needs of Children from One-Parent Families, cosponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Institute for Development of Educational Activities, a division of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Arlington, VA, 1980. A longitudinal study on 326 adolescents showed that boys living with their single mothers were considered more aggressive by their teachers than boys who lived in a "mother and other" arrangement. Source: Nancy Vaden Kiernan, Nicholas Ialongo, Jane Pearson, and Sheppard Kellam, "Household Family Structure and ChildrenŐs Aggressive Behavior: A Longitudinal Study of Urban Elementary School Children," Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23 (1995): 553-568. Children who exhibited violent misbehavior in school were 11 times as likely not to live with their fathers and 6 times as likely to have parents who were not married. Boys from families with absent fathers and divorced parents are at higher risk for violent behavior than boys from intact families. Source: Jonathan L. Sheline, Betty J. Skipper and W. Eugene Broadhead, "Risk Factors for Violent Behavior in Elementary School Boys: Have You Hugged Your Child Today?" American Journal of Public Health 84 (1994): 661-663. [Previous | Table of Contents | Next ] (c) 1998, National Fatherhood Initiative. All rights reserved. Father Facts 3 is available in softcover from the National Fatherhood Initiative. 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