Running Head: THE IMPORTANCE OF FATHERHOOD

The Importance of Fatherhood: Literature Review

Fernando Leon
The University of Texas at El Paso

Running Head: THE IMPORTANCE OF FATHERHOOD

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Abstract
The following information is about the importance of fatherhood. The information will be
provided on the outlook of the effects of fathers and the relationships between outcomes
in children, the effects of children development, and how it effects children learning
abilities and emotional outcomes. Also discussed is the emotional stress of dealing
without a father figure in one life. The literature reviews the effects of how a child can
have prolong and negative effects. The intend is to inform how one can educate
themselves in being a father-like figure to avoid potential side effects on children.

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The Importance of Fatherhood: Literature Review

One of the crisis one can see today is the divorce rate. With the following
information and looking at how single parents are effecting the learning of children, one
must look at the effects and how one can possibly avoid or stop the crisis. The
importance of having a father can benefit children in the long run. The following articles
will review the following questions:
1. What is the importance of having a father-like figure?
2. What are the effects of children from single parents?
3. Should parents stay married for the childrens sake?
In this article review one shall see the perspective of what the information of over 30
years has brought and see how one can help the statistics.
The importance of having a father like figure?
To be honest, the history of fatherhood starts at the beginning of time, but the
actual fatherhood movement did not make a scene until the early 1990s. The first
Fathers day was actually celebrated back in 1910. The funny thing about this is that
Mothers day started before Fathers day. How is this funny you may ask. Well if you go

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back in history women did not have any rights until the 1920s, so how can one figure
that a national holiday saw womens holiday two years before a mans holiday. This is
just some background information of when men and women became honored in the
U.S. So what is fatherhood? It is being aware of a child's needs which will help a father
to be better equipped to meet those needs at various stages of a child's life. The issue
arises in early 1994 when the government and ad council become involved in the
advocation of fatherhood. It became relevant again in the 2000s when President Bush
reintroduce the TANF Act. The issue of fatherhood is controversial, since there has been
studies for decades, as early as 1980s. The effects of children development is argued
as well as children protection. In 2003, an estimated 906,000 children were victims of
abuse and neglect (as cited in Rosenberg and Wilcox, 2006, p.6). The child welfare
provides insights on more than one perspective on issues that arise from fatherless kids.
Another issue that arises is how children development is more effective with a father.
The manual issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides
many different perspectives of how children learn to develop better education
(Rosenberg and Wilcox, 2006). The importance of how to be a father is not just being
there, but actual development. It also states the effect of working mothers. Having a
balanced life with the child and mother can play important roles with children while
creating a positive learning environment. One can see how the manual also shows how

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one should become responsible for children even before having them. Having financial
and emotional support before being a father will help. There is many sections to be
covered with fatherhood. The goal is to be a role model, someone a child can see and
have a positive influence. The theory is to see how parenting, not just with mothers but
fathers as well, can make a big impact in childrens future decisions. The U.S
Department of Education in 2001 found that high involved biological fathers had
children who were 43% less likely to repeat a grade (as cited in, Rosenburg and Wilcox,
2006 p.12). The statistic are impressive since you can see how the relationship, even
with a non-biological father, can effect children. There are many impacts on fatherhood,
but the goal of all is to learn and assess how one can become a better parent.
Should parents stay married for the childrens sake?
The issue of fatherhood goes back to when women got rights. The reason for this
is that women essentially changed. They had the freedom to choose who to marry. The
increase in divorce rates has kept climbing. The fact that most women had no rights,
would be thrown in jail, or outcasted in society has had a nominal effect so far. The
effect one can see now is women having multiple children by different dads, this is also
an issue today. The statistic are impressive, as 1 in 3 women have children with two
different parents. The stability of parents involvement will have further effects on society.
The increase in inmates and suicide linking kids with no parents is a big issue. How can

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one prevent this and how one can learn and give future generations a better
understanding? One issue I did not come upon was gay-parenting. It is now more
accepted in society and it would be beneficial to see how that affects children. This is an
on going issue since now society has a better understanding and acceptance, but yet
very little background into how children are being raised in these environments. Part of
the understanding of childrens effect are not a result of womens rights. It is more of the
awareness of society and changes with the views we have had throughout the last
decade. Women roles have change throughout the course of history essentially affecting
relationships. One can see that single parenting is a common issue. The absenteeism of
a father-like figure lacks in many of the children. Many of the women in todays world are
getting pregnant at a much younger rate than before. One has to look at the
advancement in education to see that there is no more turning heads, but preventing
teen pregnancy can reduce the anxiety of children. The childrens well-being increases
with two parents present. There is a less likely possibility of children doing harm when
there are two parents than a single parent. According to (Rosenberg and Wilcox, 2006
p. 6.) approximately two-fifths of children were maltreated by their mothers acting alone.
These numbers are staggering since the numbers come from single parent families. The
welfare of children only gets better with two parents involved. The long-term negative
effects of children increases with just a single parent.

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From the image above, one can see how the household for single parents can change,
not just emotional, but financial as well. This leads to more stress by a single parent
resulting in abuse/neglect to a child. The numbers of the poverty level increases
dramatically by a single parent causing more stress on a single parent, which increases
the changes of the abuse.
What are the effects of children from single parents?
It is common to see single parents raising children. The divorce rate is at an all
time high at 50% in America. With that said, children with single parents have a risk of
cognitive, social, and emotional problems elevated than those with two parents. The

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risks are also elevated by economic hardship, since it can dwell on a single parent to
provide full financial support. The quality of parenting is also in play, since single parents
can stress more. Having two parents can be less harsh on children since not all
emotional support relies on a single parent. According to Amato (2005), Interview with
children reveal that losing a father contact is one of the most painful outcomes of
divorce. It also shows that children with cooperative parents tend to thrive. One can see
that this is because both parents are on the same parental agreement and children
receive more consistency. Children who view respect, communication, and resolving
disputes tend to have more positive relationships with peers later in life. In 2013, 32% of
the 35 million families with children under 18 were maintained by one single parent
(Solomon-Fears, 2015, Jan. 16). This affects children since the cause of repeating a
grade with one parent is at 30% compared to two parents its at 18%, which is a big
difference. All data gathered in 1995 shows an increase in violence, delinquency,
attempted suicide, and suspension from school all show an increase with just one
parent when compared to two parents. The information gathered shows how a single
parent child is more affected than those with two parents in there life. Even nonbiological parents have a better effect when there are two parents involved instead of
just one. The single children's parents health also come into play. Nearly 75% of all
single parents have a high blood cholesterol and increase in hear attacks. Having two

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continuously married biological parents will have modest effects on children growing up.
One can see that there is less effects on the children and adults when marriages last.
The side effects of that can have a great lasting impact on children under 18, and lasts
for years. The odds of marriage lasting is even better if there are college-educated
parents involved. Also, the later in life one gets married, meaning before 35 but after 24,
increases the chances of staying together with your partner. Having people not getting
married at such a young age should be a consideration for proposal since one can see
all the negative effects that single parenting has on children under 18. The amount of
money owed to single parents is extremely high and can be avoided by increasing the
age limit of marriage. All these lasting effects can be cut down dramatically if one has
the opportunity to wait to be married.
The current law for child support is the following. The actual law makes it illegal
for an individual to willfully fail to pay child support in certain circumstances. What this
means is if by law one has given an order to pay child support, one must pay child
support. In the circumstances that one fails to pay child support for longer than one
year, or exceed the amount of $5,000, he is subject to a criminal misdemeanor. If you
are convicted you face fines, and up to 6 months in prison. Now if a subject is overdue
by over two years, or exceeds $10,000, the crime becomes a felony. If you are convicted
you face fines, and up to two years of prison. In accordance with the child support law,

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an individual also cannot cross the state line when ordered to pay child support. If one is
caught fleeing with intentions of not paying child support, one can face imprisonment of
up to two years. The cases of child support has increase steadily since 2003. The
increase within the last 10 years has jump to over 10%, with a high of 83.1% of people
having been issued to pay child support (Office of Child Support Enforcement, 2009).
What this mean is that there is over $100 billion owed in unpaid child support. This has
an effect due to the fact that half of the people not receiving child support are on
government assistance, costing tax payers half a billion dollars. That mean that ones
hard working taxes are going to the children on public assistance. Further, the law for
joint-custody is very misleading and usually has negative effects on fathers. The law
sees certain circumstances for cases, since it is usually a one sided issue. What I mean
is that usually fathers are the ones affected by the outcomes in court. The fathers rights
can be taken away if the mother changes the joint custody. Fathers can lose children by
mothers taking them out of the state without the fathers knowledge. There is so much
that the courts set against the father, that have negatively effected the outcomes of court
hearings. In an interview with a father, I asked: what is the most difficult part of being a
single parent? The father recalls the relationship with the mother and getting his children
to understand that they should allow him the time to be a father (Leon, personal
interview, March 27, 2015). He claims that due to the relationship with the mother, it

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became difficult for the kids to understand that he was allowed to have them. The
children did not want to leave one of the parents due to having other siblings stay at the
same household. I also asked the father: what he would change if he could change
anything? The father responded that he would increase the time spent with his children
(Leon, personal interview, March 27, 2015). He mentioned that the children do not
always want to go to his place. He spends very little time with them, so he hoped he
could get them more days out of the week than just on weekends and sometimes
holidays. There is too much to be decided that he felt he got the short end of the stick
because of the law and visitation rights.
As one can see with the literature review that there is an essential to learn and to
adapt to children necessities. One must be aware that just because children are no
longer in two parent relationships one can still have a big impact in their lives. Fathers
must learn to be there for children since it can potentially have huge benefits to children.
The relationship investments must be made since one can play a big deficiency in child
support payments and children developments. The information gave the reader
information needed to view the side effect of fatherhood and the importance. One must
use the following article to conclude the benefits to helping the future generation.

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Reference

Administration for Children & Families, 2014, dec, 16

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/speeches/2012/june-14-2012-fatherhood-conference

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Rosenberg, Jeffrey and W. Bradford Wilcox, 2006, The Importance of Fathers in the
Healthy Development of Children https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/fatherhood.pdf
Mott, Frank, 1997, Jan 16 http://fatherhood.hhs.gov/CFSForum/apenc.htm
Aughinbaugh, Alison, 2013 Bureau of Labor Statistics:
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/article/marriage-and-divorce-patterns-by-gender-race-andeducational-attainment.htm

Amato, Paul R 2005: http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xml?

journalid=37&articleid=107&sectionid=694

Solomon-Fears, Carmen 1/16/15: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL31025.pdf

Hargreaves, Steve, 2012, Nov, 5, cnn money
http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/05/news/economy/unpaid-child-support/