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- An estimated 24.7 million children (36.3%) live absent from their biological father.
Total Custodial Mothers: 11,268,000.
Total Custodial Fathers: 2,907,000 (Source: Current Population
Reports, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Series P-20, No.458, 1991).
There are almost 17 million children (25%) living with their single mother.
Today nearly half of all first marriages end in divorce.
60% of divorcing couples have children.
Over one million children each year experience the divorce of their parents.
One out of every six children are stepchildren.
About 40% of the children who live in fatherless households haven't seen their fathers in at least a year.
50% of children who don't live with their fathers have never stepped foot in their father's home.
An estimated 24.7 million children (36.3%) live absent from their biological father.
Almost 17 million children (25%) live with their single mother.
(U.S.D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census)
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EFFECTS OF SOLE CUSTODY ARRANGEMENTS (US DATA):
63% of youth suicides are from sole custody situations.(U.S.D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census)
70% of state institutionalized juveniles are from sole custody arrangements.(U.S. Dept of Justice)
71% of high school dropouts (National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools)
85% of children with behavioral disorders (Center for Disease Control)
85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from sole custody homes (Source: Center for
Disease Control)
90% of all homeless and runaway children are from SOLE custody homes (Source: US. D.HHS., Bureau of the Census)
71% of all high school dropouts (Source: National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools).
75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers (Source: Rainbows for all God's Children).
63% of youth suicides (Source: US. D.HHS., Bureau of the Census)
80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes (Source: Criminal Justice &
Behavior, Vo114, p. 403-26, 1978)
70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions (Source: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Special Report, Sept 1988)
85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in a fatherless home (Source: Fulton Co. Georgia jail populations, Texas Dept. of Corrections 1992).
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- Daughters of single parents are 53% more likely to marry as teenagers
164% more likely to have a premarital birth
92% more likely to dissolve their own marriages.
All these intergenerational
consequences of sole custody increase the likelihood of chronic welfare dependency. (II Barbara Dafoe
Whitehead, Atlantic Monthly, April 1993).
Daughters of single parents are 2.1 times more likely to have children during their teenage years than are
daughters from intact families. (The Good Family Man, David Blankenhom).
71% of teenage pregnancies are to children of single parents. (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services).
These statistics translate to mean that children from a sole custody home are:
5 times more likely to commit suicide.
32 times more likely to run away.
20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders.
14 times more likely to commit rape.
9 times more likely to drop out of high school.
10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances.
9 times more likely to end up in a state-operated institution.
20 times more likely to end up in prison.
Juveniles have become the driving force behind the nation's alarming increases in violent crime.
Juvenile arrests for murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault have grown sharply in the past decade as
pistols and drugs became more available.
These statistics are expected to continue to grow at the same alarming rate during the next decade. (Justice Dept. Issues Scary Report on Juvenile Crime," San Francisco Chronicle (9/8/95).
(Crime Wave Forecast With Teenager Boom, " San Francisco Chronicle (2/15/95).
Criminal behavior experts and social scientists are finding intriguing evidence that the epidemic of youth
violence and gangs are related to the breakdown of the two-parent family. (New Evidence That Quayle Was
Right: Young Offenders Tell What Went Wrong at Home," San Francisco Chronicle (12/9/94).
CHILD ABUSE
Shared parenting can significantly reduce the stress associated with sole custody and reduce the isolation of children in abusive situations by allowing both parents to monitor the children's health and welfare.
POVERTY
The National Fatherhood Institute reports that 18 million children live in single-parent homes.
Nearly 75% of American children living in single-parent families will experience poverty before they turn 11.
Only 20% in two-parent families will experience poverty. (Melinda Sacks, "Fatherhood in the 90's: Kids of
absent fathers more "at risk", II San Jose Mercury News ( 10/29/95).
The feminization of poverty is linked to the feminization of custody, as well as linked to lower earnings for women. Greater opportunity for education and jobs through shared parenting can help break the cycle. (David Levy, Ed., The Best Parent is Both Parents, 1993).
Information from multiple sources show that only 10% of all noncustodial father fit the "deadbeat dad" category.
90% of the fathers with joint custody paid the support due.
Fathers with enforced visitation rights pay 79.1 %
while
44.5% of those with NO visitation rights still financially support their children. (Source: Census Bureau report. Series P-23, No.173).
Additionally, of those NOT paying support, 66% are not doing so because they LACK the FlNANCIAL RESOURCES to pay (Source: GAO report, GAOIHRD-92-39 FS).
Total amount of child support owed -$14,800,000,000. Total amount of child support received -
$11.100.000,000. (Source: Current Population Reports, U.S. Bureau of the Census. Series P-23. No 173, 1998).
66% of all support not paid by non-custodial fathers is due to inability to pay. (Source: U.S. General
Accounting Office Report, GAOIHRD-92-39FS January 1992).
Custodial mothers who receive a child support award: 79.6%
Custodial fathers who receive a support child award: 29.9%
Non-custodial mothers who totally default on support: 46.9%
Non-custodial fathers who totally default on support: 26.9%
(Data obtained by asking custodial parents)
All the following are for custodial parents:
Single sole custodial mothers who work less than full time: 66.2%
Single sole custodial fathers who work less than full time: 10.2%
Single mothers who work more than 44 hours per week: 7.0%
Single fathers who work more than 44 hours per week: 24.5%
Percent of Single mothers who receive public assistance: 46.2%
Percent of Single fathers who receive public assistance: 20.8%
From: bwellman@crl.com (Brent Wellman)
Date: (Wed Feb 01 16:20:10 CST 1995).
Children in sole custody are much more likely to be subject to parental kidnapping and/or physical
harm.
(F.S. Williams. Child Custody and Parental Cooperation. American Bar Assn, Family Law).
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