As more studies are conducted over the years, we gain a better understanding of the positive impact that an involved father can have on children, as well as the negative effects of father absence. Once a significant number of new studies are available, National Fatherhood Initiative® updates its flagship publication, Father Facts™. Lucky for us, it’s that time again! Father Facts™ 9 is here and packed with valuable insights into father involvement and father presence data and research!
Let's take a moment to see where we’ve come from.
Looking back at father absence research
From its humble beginnings as a one-pager on father absence in 1995, Father Facts™ has evolved into a comprehensive resource. Years ago, fatherhood research focused primarily on white, middle-class fathers and the consequences of absent fathers.
Thankfully, a voluminous body of research has emerged since then that is much more diverse in the populations and outcomes examined. This is very encouraging because we can now capture the impact and experiences of diverse fathers as the level of father involvement has increased amid economic and cultural changes (such as mothers entering the workforce and creating more dual-earner families) and accepting diverse family structures.
Likewise, Father Facts™ has evolved. The latest edition features over 200 pages of fatherhood research and studies, 370 new research entries, and 21 new chapters and sections since the previous edition. It includes new, eye-opening topics (see below) and research on father involvement completed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Father Facts™ 9 has also been restructured with a strengths-based framework that highlights the benefits of father involvement and moves the effects of absent fathers to the end. In addition, the national tables now focus on the proportion of children living with fathers instead of children living without a father in their home.
Despite these changes and additions, what hasn’t changed is the same inescapable conclusion of this huge body of research: fathers matter to healthy children, families, and communities!
How to use father involvement research
So, what does someone do with a publication like this? I’m glad you asked! Father Facts™ 9 offers many benefits to any community or organization looking to be more father-inclusive.
Whether you want to enhance your organization’s ability to support dads with responsible fatherhood programs, foster father involvement in your community, secure media coverage for your work with dads, gather research for grant proposals, or advocate for fatherhood programming or legislation, Father Facts™ is an indispensable resource you can rely on time and time again.
Now, back to the eye-opening topics. Check out some of the topics covered in the publication:
- The benefits of father involvement to children’s well-being, fathers’ well-being, mothers’ well-being, and more.
- Influences on father involvement on relationship stability and marriage, co-parenting, paternity leave-taking, pre-natal and post-natal stress and depression, and more.
- Cultural and social influences on father involvement such as race, ethnicity, gender, and masculinity.
- Relational influences on father involvement, such as divorce, cohabitation, blended families, single-parent families, and more.
- Systemic influences on father involvement, such as incarceration, shared parenting, access and visitation, and child support.
- Consequences of father absence, such as alcohol and substance abuse, child abuse, crime, poverty, emotional and behavioral problems, and suicide.
- Fathering scenarios including nonresident fathers, noncustodial fathers, teenage/adolescent fathers, military fathers, stepfathers, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on father involvement.
Intrigued? Take the next steps below to dive deeper into Father Facts™ and share father involvement data and statistics with your community and the families you serve!
- Visit our resource center to download your free sample and learn more about ordering your copy of Father Facts™ 9! We also offer an Enterprise Use edition, learn more here.
- Download 14 new FREE sharable Father Facts images to share: Share them on social media, your website, with the dads you serve, and more!
- Download five FREE infographics covering the strengths of father presence and the effects of father absence here!
