Roughly one in four U.S. children are living in fatherless homes, causing undeniable negative effects on the children’s behavior and mental health, according to a report published by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI).
Comparing several dozen studies conducted from 1987 up to 2022, the AFPI—a non-partisan research institute working “to advance policies that put the American people first”—found clear correlations between children raised in fatherless homes and developmental challenges ranging from bad grades, anxiety, and suicide to violent behavior, drug use, and criminality.
According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 18.3 million children across America live without a father in the home, comprising about one in four American children. Eighty percent of single-parent homes are fatherless.
“Children with an actively engaged father perform much better in school,” the AFPI noted, being 33 percent less likely to repeat a class and 43 percent more likely to score top grades.
With fathers present at home, data suggest that the average school-aged boy spends 30 minutes per week in one-on-one conversations with his father, while spending 40–60 hours per week online, playing video games, or watching TV.
Still, even that much time together would seem to make a world of difference. The report said the effect of fathers being absent was “staggering,” with their children having far worse overall mental health and behavior.
“These children are often burdened with lower self-esteem than other children, and they do not understand why their fathers abandoned them. This leads to a number of emotional problems like anxiety, social withdrawal, and depression, and it also leads to an increased risk of suicide and other forms of self-harm,” the AFPI wrote.
Data from the Department of Justice suggest that—even though this group comprises just a quarter of all youth—63 percent of youth suicides occur in fatherless homes, as do 85 percent of children with behavioral disorders.
The link to crime and incarceration is also clear. “Some data suggests that fatherless kids are 20 times more likely to be incarcerated,” the report states.
By Wim De Gent
