These statistics are used by “fathers rights” to “prove” what failures sole mothers are as parents and that 'marriage' should be preserved by any means possible. What this means in reality is dominion of the male in the household over wives and children. They were gathered in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. It would be reasonable to presume that the persons referred to as coming from fatherless homes would be in order to be suicidal, drug addicted, running away from home etc, would be at least aged 10. Therefore these children, to whom the statistics refer, were born in the 1970’s or prior.
It should be noted that the quotes are given out of context.
Taking another view, these figures give an insight into:
Today no doubt there would still be a large number of children raised in single mother households who have social problems and no doubt the avid researcher will find statistics to continue assertions that mothers are poor carers.
It should also be noted, that many children who live primarily with their mothers, still have adequate contact with fathers. In a census, it is simply asked who heads the family on that night? If it is a female, then the assumption is made by some that this means that the child is ‘fatherless’ when in fact there could be substantial contact. Whether or not this contact is beneficial is a question that needs to be raised also. If a child sees ongoing abuse of their mother, from their fathers, which is unfortunately a common occurrence, they commonly grow to exhibit much of the problematic behavior that is recorded below.
Nevertheless, whenever statistics are presented in support of a one sided argument, an intelligent and compassionate reader should ask “what else do these figures show that has not been told?” We have asked some those questions, (with today’s climate in mind) in response to the below presentations. No doubt there are many more.
In conjunction with these out of context statements below, we recommend that the report from the QLD Government on child safety is also read. Pages 28 and 29 of the report in particular.
Any person who has more recent Australian studies along the lines of the below is welcome to send it to us for perusal.
61% of all child abuse is committed by biological mothers – this is mainly the abuse of neglect- bought about by poverty, stress of coping alone, and lack of financial support from the fathers of the children.
25% of all child abuse is committed by natural fathers (this abuse is in the nature of for example, serious injury and sexual abuse ) Statistical Source: Current DHHS report on nationwide Child Abuse
79.6% of custodial mothers receive a support award – due to lack of income from other sources. Women are in a much lower employment level than men overall.
29.9% of custodial fathers receive a support award – perhaps many of the mothers do not have jobs or income, that is why they lose custody of their kids
46.9% of non-custodial mothers totally default on support – maybe partly due to income, further maternity or employment reasons.
26.9% of non-custodial fathers totally default on support – maybe partly due to income and employment reasons.
20.0% of non-custodial mothers pay support at some level – most don’t have income, many have re partnered and may have more children. Lower income levels etc from losing status in the workplace due to childbirth and early rearing.
61.0% of non-custodial fathers pay support at some level. Statistics also show that many pay less than what they should due to the ability of some, especially self employed, to hide money from assessors. “Some level” also includes the useless sum of $10 a fortnight from social security benefits. In Australia today, non resident fathers can also claim part family tax benefit it they have the requisite amount of care.
66.2% of single custodial mothers work less than full-time – due to child rearing responsibilities and lack of adequate and affordable child care facilities? Most married mothers work less than full time also.
10.2% of single custodial fathers work less than full-time – Are these the ones that don’t have new partners to look after the kids?
7.0% of single custodial mothers work more than 44 hours weekly – they must have adequate child care available. Failure to do so would result in a charge of neglect. Mothers traditionally take lesser paid hours of work due to child care responsibilities.
24.5% of single custodial fathers work more than 44 hours weekly – So… who is looking after the kids? Would leaving children alone for 44 hours a week be seen as neglect? Or do these men have new wives and partners who stay at home to look after the children? Or is their income sufficient to pay for full time care?
46.2% of single custodial mothers receive public assistance – due to lack of education and employment opportunities and child care facilities?
20.8% of single custodial fathers receive public assistance. Do fathers get the kids due to better income and resources, including access to lawyers? What resources do they have that sole mothers don’t so they can go to work….answer: income to pay for care, or new wives/partners?
Statistical Source: Technical Analysis Paper No. 42 - U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services - Office of Income Security Policy
90.2% of fathers with joint custody pay all the support due. Willingly or by enforcement? What is “all support” is it an adequate amount to meet the expenses of the children?
79.1% of fathers with visitation privileges pay all the support due. Willingly or by enforcement? What is “all support” is it an adequate amount to meet the expenses of the children?
44.5% of fathers with no visitation pay all the support due Why no visitation? Court ordered or otherwise? What is “all the support due” Is this only from unemployment benefits and fathers have no interest in seeing their children so don’t
37.9% of fathers are denied any visitation Why? Court ordered or otherwise?
66.0% of all support not paid by non-custodial fathers is due to inability to pay This statement could be applied for non custodial mothers – but it IS NOT!!!
Statistical Source: 1988 Census "Child Support and Alimony: 1989 Series P-60, No. 173 p. 6-7. and U.S. General Accounting Office Report" GAO/HRD-92-39FS January, 1992
50% of mothers see no value in the father's continued contact with his children. There could be many reasons for this – domestic violence, abuse, father a bad influence due to eg, drugs, criminal activity etc.
--See "Surviving the Breakup" by Joan Berlin Kelly
40% of mothers reported that they had interfered with the father's visitation to punish their ex-spouse. How often? “Interfered with” is a very general and broad statement to be quoted out of context. Why did the mothers feel the fathers needed ‘punishing’? Many possible interpretations from this statement.
--See "Frequency of Visitation...." by Stanford Braver, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
The following statements beg these questions:
How many of these youths were abandoned prior to birth? Impossible that every one of these children were denied access to their fathers. How many were bought up in poverty and the despair and stress that this brings? Sexual assault, witnessing and experiencing violence in the home is a risk factor for suicide and criminal activity – how many of these youths were assaulted by their fathers before their mothers escaped with them, or were deserted by fathers leaving the household? Poverty, despair, violence all contribute to lower learning ability, leading to a downward spiral.
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes – (That 37% come from ‘intact’ families is extremely disturbing)
--U.S. D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census
85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes Or, they come from homes headed by women, who may not have been able to divest themselves from the abusive ex partner, who may live in poverty, or for many reasons all to common among this demographic.
--Center for Disease Control
80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes – Has this displaced anger come about from the violence and abuse that was inflicted upon them in their early lives, and maybe continuing?
--Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 14, p. 403-26
71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes –
--National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools
Has this come about from the violence and abuse that was inflicted upon them in their early lives, and maybe continuing?
70% of juveniles in state operated institutions come from fatherless homes – Has this come about from the violence and abuse that was inflicted upon them in their early lives, and maybe continuing.
--U.S. Dept. of Justice, Special Report Sept., 1988
85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in a fatherless home
--Fulton County Georgia jail populations & Texas Dept. of Corrections, 1992
Translated, this means that children from a fatherless home are:
In brief, these figures indicate that too many men have abdicated their parental responsibilities – and now place blame for the outcome of their actions on the mothers of their children.
There are: 11,268,000 total U.S. custodial mothers and 2,907,000 total U.S. custodial fathers
--Current Population Reports, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Series P-20, No. 458, 1991
In a study of 700 adolescents, researchers found that "compared to families with two natural parents living in the home, adolescents from single-parent families have been found to engage in greater and earlier sexual activity."
Source: Carol W. Metzler, et al. "The Social Context for Risky Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents", Journal of Behavioral Medicine 17 (1994).
"Fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, suicide, poor educational performance, teen pregnancy, and criminality." –
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, DC, 1993.
"Teenagers living in single-parent households are more likely to abuse alcohol and at an earlier age compared to children reared in two-parent households." –
Source: Terry E. Duncan, Susan C. Duncan and Hyman Hops, "The Effects of Family Cohesiveness and Peer Encouragement on the Development of Adolescent Alcohol Use: A Cohort-Sequential Approach to the Analysis of Longitudinal Data", Journal of Studies on Alcohol 55 (1994).
"...the absence of the father in the home affects significantly the behavior of adolescents and results in the greater use of alcohol and marijuana."
Source: Deane Scott Berman "Risk Factors Leading to Adolescent Substance Abuse", Adolescence 30 (1995) –
A study of 156 victims of child sexual abuse found that the majority of the children came from disrupted or single-parent homes; only 31 percent of the children lived with both biological parents. Although stepfamilies make up only about 10 percent of all families, 27 percent of the abused children lived with either a stepfather or the mother's boyfriend. And what of the other 63% - most are abused by someone in the family.
Source: Beverly Gomes-Schwartz, Jonathan Horowitz, and Albert P. Cardarelli, "Child Sexual Abuse Victims and Their Treatment", U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justce and Delinquency Prevention.
Researchers in Michigan determined that "49 percent of all child abuse cases are committed by single mothers." That is because of the cases of neglect. Neglect can be easily identified, as can physical assault. Sexual abuse is not easily substantiated and faces particular problems when it occurs in the context of a separation. See also QLD study – page 35 – rate substantiated abuse per 1000 children: single parent female 25.8, single parent male 39.4.
Source: Joan Ditson and Sharon Shay, "A Study of Child Abuse in Lansing, Michigan", Child Abuse and Neglect, 8 (1984).
"A family structure index -- a composite index based on the annual rate of children involved in divorce and the percentage of families with children present that are female-headed -- is a strong predictor of suicide among young adult and adolescent white males." Could this be due to the history behind the separation – abuse, violence etc?
Source: Patricia L. McCall and Kenneth C. Land, "Trends in White Male Adolescent, Young-Adult and Elderly Suicide: Are There Common Underlying Structural Factors?" Social Science Research 23, 1994.
" Fatherless children are at dramatically greater risk of suicide." Could this be because of the circumstances that surrounded the fact that their fathers were absent? Abandonment? Death of father? Inprisonment? Social status?
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, DC, 1993.
In a study of 146 adolescent friends of 26 adolescent suicide victims, teens living in single-parent families are not only more likely to commit suicide but also more likely to suffer from psychological disorders, when compared to teens living in intact families. Are some of these 'single parent familes' headed by men??
Source: David A. Brent, et al. "Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Peers of Adolescent Suicide Victims: Predisposing Factors and Phenomenology.", Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 34, 1995.
"Boys who grow up in father-absent homes are more likely that those in father-present homes to have trouble establishing appropriate sex roles and gender identity."
Source: P.L. Adams, J.R. Milner, and N.A. Schrepf, "Fatherless Children", New York, Wiley Press, 1984.
"In 1988, a study of preschool children admitted to New Orleans hospitals as psychiatric patients over a 34-month period found that nearly 80 percent came from fatherless homes." Again, a disgraceful reflection on the lack of support for mothers who have been abandoned by the ‘system’ and the fathers of their children – especially considering the date of this writing.
Source: Jack Block, et al. "Parental Functioning and the Home Environment in Families of Divorce", Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27 (1988)
"Children living with a never-married mother are more likely to have been treated for emotional problems." So is the lack of marriage purely mothers decision? In America? Where social security is dismal? Where contraception was difficult to obtain? Where abortion was/is not an easy option? The same applies today in Australia. One could hardly believe so in each and every case or even the majority.
Source: L. Remez, "Children Who Don't Live with Both Parents Face Behavioral Problems," Family Planning Perspectives (January/February 1992). This title appears dismissive of the reality that many couples should not remain together. Is the author suggesting that no matter what a mother must remain with the man who impregnated her? How can that occur if the man has multiple children to multiple partners? And vice versa?
Children reared by a divorced or never-married mother are less cooperative and score lower on tests of intelligence than children reared in intact families. Statistical analysis of the behavior and intelligence of these children revealed "significant detrimental effects " of living in a female-headed household. Growing up in a female-headed household remained a statistical predictor of behavior problems even after adjusting for differences in family income. Incorrect in today’s Australian society also. These results are more a reflection on social and financial status. This 'finding' seems to be at odds with the now touted 'concern' that girls are outdoing boys at school, or are all these girls from 'fathered families'? Answer = no, they are not, nor are all the boys with education and social problems. Source: Greg L. Duncan, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn and Pamela Kato Klebanov, "Economic Deprivation and Early Childhood Development", Child Development 65 (1994).
"Compared to peers in two-parent homes, black children in single-parent households are more likely to engage in troublesome behavior, and perform poorly in school." Black children have other problems to face as well as the poverty faced by their mothers.
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
"Even controlling for variations across groups in parent education, race and other child and family factors, 18- to 22-year-olds from disrupted families were twice as likely to have poor relationships with their mothers and fathers, to show high levels of emotional distress or problem behavior, [and] to have received psychological help." For all the reasons already stated..
Source: Nicholas Zill, Donna Morrison, and Mary Jo Coiro, "Long Term Effects of Parental Divorce on Parent-Child Relationships, Adjustment and Achievement in Young Adulthood", Journal of Family Psychology 7 (1993).
"Children with fathers at home tend to do better in school, are less prone to depression and are more successful in relationships. Children from one-parent families achieve less and get into trouble more than children from two parent families." Clearly, having a stable and loving family is the best and desirable base for any child – but this is just not achievable in so many cases. Are the people who extracted this quote implying that any father is better than no father?
Source: One Parent Families and Their Children: The School's Most Significant Minority, conducted by The Consortium for the Study of School Needs of Children from One Parent Families, co sponsored 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
"Children whose parents separate are significantly more likely to engage in early sexual activity, abuse drugs, and experience conduct and mood disorders. This effect is especially strong for children whose parents separated when they were five years old or younger."
Source: David M. Fergusson, John Horwood and Michael T. Lynsky, "Parental Separation, Adolescent Psychopathology, and Problem Behaviors", Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 33 (1944)
"Compared to peers living with both biological parents, sons and daughters of divorced or separated parents exhibited significantly more conduct problems. Daughters of divorced or separated mothers evidenced significantly higher rates of internalizing problems, such as anxiety or depression."
Source: Denise B. Kandel, Emily Rosenbaum and Kevin Chen, "Impact of Maternal Drug Use and Life Experiences on Preadolescent Children Born to Teenage Mothers", Journal of Marriage and the Family56 (1994).
"Father hunger " often afflicts boys age one and two whose fathers are suddenly and permanently absent. Sleep disturbances, such as trouble falling asleep, nightmares, and night terrors frequently begin within one to three months after the father leaves home. So, shouldn’t fathers be encouraged to “stick around” and be decent parents? Is it not always the mothers choice that father leaves. This is well known in society. And no mention of those kids who dont are glad for some respite from abuse, violence and terror. Maybe the nightmares are a hang over from father's presence?
Source: Alfred A. Messer, "Boys Father Hunger: The Missing Father Syndrome", Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, January 1989.
"Children of never-married mothers are more than twice as likely to have been treated for an emotional or behavioral problem." No wonder, given that for many the fathers never acknowledged their existence
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interiew Survey, Hyattsille, MD, 1988
A 1988 Department of Health and Human Services study found that at every income level except the very highest (over $50,000 a year), children living with never-married mothers were more likely than their counterparts in two-parent families to have been expelled or suspended from school, to display emotional problems, and to engage in antisocial behavior. Could lack of money and resources be to blame for this? Where is father’s financial support for his children?? Or is this just another example of what happens when fathers refuse to assist the MOTHER to raise their children?
Source: James Q. Wilson, "In Loco Parentis: Helping Children When Families Fail Them", The Brookings Review, Fall 1993.
In a longitudinal study of 1,197 fourth-grade students, researchers observed "greater levels of aggression in boys from mother-only households than from boys in mother-father households." Could this be because they have experienced aggression from fathers when and if the parents lived together? Maybe mother is not coping and is stressed out.? Perhaps resources should be directed towards assisting these mothers to cope?
Source: N. Vaden-Kierman, N. Ialongo, J. Pearson, and S. Kellam, "Household Family Structure and Children's Aggressive Behavior: A Longitudinal Study of Urban Elementary School Children", Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 23, no. 5 (1995).
"Children from mother-only families have less of an ability to delay gratification and poorer impulse control (that is, control over anger and sexual gratification.) These children also have a weaker sense of conscience or sense of right and wrong." Possibly for many of the reasons stated above - but we would be surprised if these stats were confirmed in later studies where income support is adequate to custodial mothers.
Source: E.M. Hetherington and B. Martin, "Family Interaction " in H.C. Quay and J.S. Werry (eds.), Psychopathological Disorders of Childhood. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1979)
"Eighty percent of adolescents in psychiatric hospitals come from broken homes." well, what do they expect to find...that they come from happy, well adjusted, financial, educated families...???
Source: J.B. Elshtain, "Family Matters... ", Christian Century, Jully 1993.
The collation of these “statements” in this manner, just shows the overall disdain that the collators, and those who use them have for women. It seems that every wrong in the land is laid at the feet of the woman who finds herself bringing up a child alone. Few women voluntarily choose this option. Most hope for a supportive relationship to raise their child. Sadly, many dont find it.