--- title: Has Father Absence Gotten Better or Worse? description: The percentage of American children that grew up without a biological, step, or adoptive dad remained stable at 27.5% in the last two decades. image: http://www.fatherhood.org/hubfs/Images/Blog/Blog-10-17.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.fatherhood.org/championing-fatherhood/has-father-absence-gotten-better-or-worse#main) - [![NFI mark](https://www.fatherhood.org/hubfs/NFI-Assets/images/NFI%20mark.svg)FATHERHOOD.ORG](https://www.fatherhood.org/) - [STORE.FATHERHOOD.ORG](https://store.fatherhood.org/) [![NFI_logo_blue_left (1) 1](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hubfs/NFI-Assets/images/NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png?width=149&height=82&name=NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png) ![NFI_logo_blue_left (1) 1](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hubfs/NFI-Assets/images/NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png?width=119&height=65&name=NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png) ![NFI_logo_blue_left (1) 1](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hubfs/NFI-Assets/images/NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png?width=119&height=66&name=NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png) ![NFI_logo_blue_left (1) 1](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hubfs/NFI-Assets/images/NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png?width=89&height=49&name=NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png) ](https://www.fatherhood.org) - [How To Build Strong Families](https://www.fatherhood.org/build-strong-families) - [Why Father Inclusion Matters](https://www.fatherhood.org/why-father-inclusion-matters) - Show submenu for Get Involved Get Involved - [Fatherhood Programs](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/programs-and-resources) - [Train Your Staff](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/staff-training) - [State, County, and City Agency Services](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/collaborative-services) Open main navigation Close main navigation - Show submenu for Get Informed Get Informed - [How To Build Strong Families](https://www.fatherhood.org/build-strong-families) - [Why Father Inclusion Matters](https://www.fatherhood.org/why-father-inclusion-matters) - [Father Stats & Infographics](https://www.fatherhood.org/father-absence-statistic) - Show submenu for Get Involved Get Involved - [Fatherhood Programs](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/programs-and-resources) - [Train Your Staff](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/staff-training) - [State, County, and City Agency Services](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/collaborative-services) - Show submenu for Get Started Get Started - [Find Your Stage of Father Inclusion](https://www.fatherhood.org/father-inclusion) - [How Father Friendly Is Your Organization?](https://www.fatherhood.org/father-friendly) - [Get In Touch](https://www.fatherhood.org/get-started) [Store](https://store.fatherhood.org/?hsLang=en) [Get In Touch](https://www.fatherhood.org/get-started) [Store](https://store.fatherhood.org/?hsLang=en) Show submenu for Get Started Get Started - [Fatherhood Data & Statistics](https://www.fatherhood.org/father-absence-statistic) - [How Father Friendly is Your Organization?](https://www.fatherhood.org/father-friendly) - [Other Free Resources](https://www.fatherhood.org/nfi-free-resources) - [Talk With us to Get Started](https://www.fatherhood.org/get-started) National Fatherhood Initiative Blog / [Latest Articles](https://www.fatherhood.org/championing-fatherhood) [General Fatherhood Research & Studies](https://www.fatherhood.org/championing-fatherhood/topic/general-fatherhood-research-studies) # Has Father Absence Gotten Better or Worse? 2 min read ![Christopher A. Brown](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/chris_circle_icon.png?width=100&height=100&name=chris_circle_icon.png) [** Christopher A. Brown ** ](https://www.fatherhood.org/championing-fatherhood/author/christopher-a-brown) Chris serves as the President of National Fatherhood Initiative® (NFI), where he is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of NFI's strategic plan and business model, as well as its operations and fundraising efforts. ![A Father and his child](http://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Blog/Blog-10-17.jpg?width=703&name=Blog-10-17.jpg "A Father and his child") Neither. That’s right. For the past two decades, the proportion of children who grow up without a biological, step, or adoptive dad has remained stable at 27.5 percent. **Percentage of Children in Father-Absent Homes, 1960-2014** **![US Census Data ](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Blog/us-census-data-fatherless-children.png?width=703&name=us-census-data-fatherless-children.png "US Census Data ")** Source: U.S. Census Bureau Is this good news or bad news? It’s certainly good news that the proportion of children who grow up without a dad hasn’t gotten worse. It’s also good news that the proportion of Black children who grow up without a dad has decreased, although, sadly, these children still far outpace any other racial group. When it comes to children’s well-being, however, there’s no doubt that it’s bad news. On average, when children grow up with their dad, they [reap physical, emotional, and social benefits](https://store.fatherhood.org/father-facts/) too numerous to mention here. By contrast, when children grow up without their dad, they suffer, on average, from [a number of ills](https://www.fatherhood.org/father-absence-statistics-2016). Although the proportion of children growing up without a dad has stabilized, the sheer number of these children has increased. There were 69.5 million children under the age of 18 in 1995. That number [increased to 73.8 million](https://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/tables/pop1.asp) in 2017. That means just under 1.2 million more children today—27.5 percent of the additional 4.3 million children—grow up without a dad. The bottom line is that all of us still have a lot of work to do to decrease the proportion of children who grow up without a dad. I implore you to continue to partner with [National Fatherhood Initiative](https://www.fatherhood.org/) as we build capacity in organizations and communities to connect dads with their children.   Date Published: 10/17/2017 Last Updated: 01/03/2018 ## Learn How to Build a Fatherhood Program That Works Download this free guide for a proven 7-step roadmap—from making the case and securing funding for your program, to launching and measuring real results! 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