Additional Resources

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18.4 million children, 1 in 4,
live without a biological, step, or adoptive father in the home.

That’s enough children to fill New York City twice or Los Angeles four times over.

Research shows that a father's absence affects children in numerous unfortunate ways,
while a father's presence makes a positive difference in the lives of both children and mothers.

It seems like more and more folks feel that dads are optional and that single moms can do just fine raising children on their own. Just over half of births among Millennials are to unwed mothers, significantly more than past generations, including Gen X. And only about half of Millennials believe a child needs a home with both a father and a mother present to grow up happily.

Yet despite the trend in popular culture towards greater acceptance of single motherhood, study after study empirically demonstrates that dads play an extremely important role in a child’s well-being and success. Below we list a few studies that show exactly how much fathers influence their children’s lives.

Fatherhood in America is changing. Today, fathers who live with their children are taking a more active role in caring for them and helping out around the house, and the ranks of single fathers have grown significantly in recent decades. At the same time, more and more children are growing up without a father in the home.

The changing role of fathers has introduced new challenges as dads juggle the competing demands of family and work. Here are some key findings about fathers from Pew Research Center.

Healthy father involvement is good for children. Below are resources to help organizations understand the importance of fathers in the lives of their children. Share these resources with colleagues and stakeholders to help everyone in your community understand the value of supporting fathers.

Teaching kids about money when they’re young lays the foundation for responsible money management later in life. Children whose parents emphasize the importance of financial literacy and encourage them to spend and save thoughtfully develop a healthy perspective on money.

Financially preparing for a new baby can be a daunting but critical task. Having a child can be very expensive, and there are no shortcuts or ways around the simple fact that you will have to spend a lot of money. Implementing the proper planning, building a budget and planning for contingencies can help to lessen the financial shock and keep your family prepared once the baby is born.