A Profile of Dads Who Live with Their Kids

At National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI), we raise awareness about the consequences for children when they grow up without their dad. We’re even more focused, however, on raising awareness about the benefits children realize when they grow up with their dad.

How much, then, do we know about “resident dads,” the term scholars like to use for dads who live with their minor children? Test your knowledge by answering the following questions.

• What percentage of resident dads live only with their biological children?
  • 68 percent
  • 79 percent
  • 84 percent
  • 91 percent
  • 94 percent
• What percentage of resident dads live only with stepchildren?
  • 1 percent
  • 4 percent
  • 7 percent
  • 10 percent
  • 13 percent
• What percentage of resident dads live with both biological and stepchildren?
  • 2 percent
  • 5 percent
  • 9 percent
  • 11 percent
  • 14 percent

Don’t worry if you struggled to know the answers. I did, too.

Lucky for all of us, we can increase our knowledge about resident dads thanks to research conducted by the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University. Click here to review and download their profile of resident dads using data from 2016. It includes answers to the questions above, as well as, the proportion of resident dads by age, education, and income, and whether they’re married or cohabiting.

A key driver of this research is the increase in dads living with stepchildren. While still a small proportion of dads overall, we’ve seen an increased demand for guidance on serving stepdads. Click here for a recent blog post with such guidance.

How much do you know about the characteristics of resident dads?

Does the profile of resident dads surprise you?