Father’s Day Social Science

Father’s Day is hard for some people. More kids lack a mom and dad in their lives now than ever–79% of single-parent homes are headed by the mother, while only 10% are headed by the father. Both sons and daughters suffer without a father. For example, research has shown that fatherlessness increases the risk of “youth incarceration” in males and “early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy” in females.

Some women even deliberately conceive children by sperm donation in order to raise them fatherless from birth. Yet a recent study found such children are “more likely … to struggle with serious, negative outcomes such as delinquency, substance abuse, and depression.” Some people say that having both a mother and a father doesn’t matter. Social science research says otherwise. Dr. Kyle Pruett of Yale Medical School demonstrated in his book Fatherneed that fathers contribute to parenting in ways that mothers do not. Pruett declares, “From deep within their biological and psychological being, children need to connect to fathers … to live life whole.”

Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council. This article is excerpted from the Washington Update that he compiles for the FRC.

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