Appreciating How Fathers Give Children a Head Start
Overview
How Father Involvement Improves Child Well-Being
The Problem of Fatherlessness
How Father-Love Is Different From Mother-Love and Why It Matters
Reading List: Resources on Why Fathers Matter
Overview
Nearly 30 years ago, leading child psychologist Michael E. Lamb reminded us that
fathers are the "forgotten contributors to child development."1 Since then, much work
has been done to explore the ways fathers uniquely contribute to the healthy development
of their children. Scholars now know that boys and girls who grow up with an involved
father, as well as an involved mother, have stronger cognitive and motor skills, enjoy
elevated levels of physical and mental health, become better problem-solvers, and are more
confident, curious, and empathetic. They also show greater moral sensitivity and
self-control.
As they grow, well-fathered children are substantially less likely to be sexually
involved at an early age, have babies out of wedlock, or be involved in criminal or
violent behavior. They are much more likely to stay in school, do well there, and go
to college.
Fathers can help Head Start programs become more effective in achieving positive
outcomes for children. Head Start programs can help to strengthen the parenting
partnership, and help fathers to be more effective in their children's lives.
These five Building Blocks for Father Involvement will support Head Start
programs in their efforts to promote father involvement. Building Block 1 provides
up-to-date research on the essential role that fathers play in the healthy development of
their children.
It is important that Head Start staff and parents understand the importance of the
parenting partnership and why fathers are essential to children's well-being. This
knowledge will help them to better meet the needs of families and children.
How Father Involvement
Improves Child Well-Being
There is a substantial body of research literature documenting the positive benefits
fathers bring to the lives of their children. A review of studies on father involvement and
child well-being published since 1980 found that
82 percent of these studies showed "significant associations between positive father involvement
and offspring well-being…"2
An analysis of over 100 studies on parent-child relationships found that having a loving and
nurturing father was as important for a child's happiness, well-being, and social and academic
success as having a loving and nurturing mother. Some studies indicated father-love was a stronger
contributor to some important positive child well-being outcomes.3 Weinraub, in
"Fatherhood: the Myth of the Second Class Parent," states that "There is no doubt that fathers
are important contributors to child development. In particular, fathers significantly affect the
development of sex roles, cognitive abilities and achievement motivation."4
School Readiness and Behavior
Children who have an involved father in their lives in the early years show up for school with
more of the qualities needed for learning. They are more patient, curious, and confident. They are
better able to remain in their seats, wait patiently for their teacher, and maintain interest in
their own work.5
Educational psychologist Paul Amato explains that this higher level of self-control in school
children with involved fathers was also associated with many other healthy qualities, such as
improved general life skills, self-esteem, and higher social skills.6
Kyle Pruett, in Fatherneed, reports on
another major scientific study that linked positive fatherhood
involvement with:
- Lowered levels of disruptive behavior,
acting out, depression, and telling lies;
- Obeying parents, being kind to others,
and being responsible;
- Fewer behavioral problems in young boys;
and
- Girls being happier, more confident, and willing to try new things.
Pruett concludes, "Positive father care is associated with more pro-social and positive moral behavior overall in boys and girls." 7
Cognitive, Motor, and Verbal Development
Psychologist Ellen Bing was one of the first scholars to explore how fatherhood impacts child
well-being. In the early 1960s, she found that children who had fathers who read to them regularly
were more likely to do much better in many important cognitive skill categories than children who
did not have fathers who read to them. Interestingly, one of the strongest benefits was a
substantial increase in a daughter's verbal skills.8
A study nearly ten years later, published in Developmental Psychology, found that both
well-fathered preschool boys and girls had increased verbal skills compared with kids with absent
or overbearing fathers.9
Ross Parke's research shows that father involvement in the early months of a child's life
contributes to increased intellectual, motor, and physical development.10
Henry Biller, noted fatherhood researcher, finds time and again that father-involved children
are more confident and successful in solving complex mathematical and logical puzzles. This may be
because fathers tend to be more specialized in and have a higher interest in analytical problems.
Norma Radin found that high father involvement contributed to higher mathematical competencies in
young daughters.11
Michael Yogman conducted a study of the role fathering plays in overcoming the effects of
prematurity in Latino, African-American, and other inner-city populations. When he followed up
with these preemies at three years of age, Yogman found that kids with highly involved fathers
had substantially higher cognitive skills than those children who did not have involved fathers.12
Michael Lamb found that preschool children who had involved fathers had higher cognitive
competencies on standardized intellectual assessments.13
Security, Confidence, and Attachment
Infants who have involved fathers in their lives for the first eighteen to twenty-four months of
life are more secure and are more likely to explore the world around them with increased
enthusiasm and curiosity than children who did not have close, involved fathers. Father's
active play and slower response to help the child through frustrating situations promotes
problem-solving competencies and independence in the child.14
Making Wise Life Choices
Research from the University of Pennsylvania found that children who feel a closeness and
warmth with their father are twice as likely to enter college, 75 percent less likely to have a
child in their teen years, 80 percent less likely to be incarcerated, and half as likely to show
various signs of depression.15
"A white teenage girl from an advantaged background is five times more likely to become a
teen mother if she grows up in a single-mother household than if she grows up in a household
with both biological parents."16
The likelihood that a young male will engage in criminal activity doubles if he is raised
without a father and triples if he lives in a neighborhood with a high concentration of
fatherless families.17
"The research is absolutely clear…the one human being most capable of curbing the antisocial
aggression of a boy is his biological father."18
Development of Empathy
A long-term study started in the 1950s found that the strongest indicator for a child being
empathetic later in adulthood was warm father involvement in the early years of the child's life.
19
In a 26-year-long study, researchers found that the number one factor in developing empathy
in children was father involvement. Fathers spending regular time alone with their children
translated into children who became compassionate adults.20
Kyle Pruett, after reviewing the large body of research on father involvement and child
development, concludes "these findings take us beyond a shadow of a doubt" that fathers play an
important and irreplaceable role in healthy child development. He adds, "the closer the connection
between father and child, the better off they both are now and in the future."21
The Problem of
Fatherlessness
Just as it has documented the many benefits of positive father involvement, the research is
clear on father absence and its negative consequences for children.
How Many Fatherless Children Are There in America?
The United States is the world's leader in fatherless families.22
Tonight, some 24 million children (approximately 34 percent of all children) will go to
bed in a home where their father does not reside.23
Nearly 40 percent of children in father-absent homes have not seen their father at all
during the past year.24
More than half of all children who do not live with their father have never been in their
father's home.25
Percentage of children living apart from their biological fathers (by race):26
African-American children: 66 percent
Hispanic children: 35 percent
White children: 27 percent.
- Single mothers are the primary caregivers in 84 percent of all single-parent
families.27
Fatherless Family Growth Over the Decades
From 1960 to 1996, the number of children who lived in homes without a father or
stepfather rose from 7 million to nearly 20 million. However, since the mid-1990s, the number of
children in fatherless homes has leveled off.28
The number of children raised by single mothers more than tripled between 1960 and
2000—from 5.1 million to 16.2 million.29
In 1960, only 4 percent of single mothers had never been married. In 2000, this number was up to
41 percent.30
Good News
The percentage of children under the age of 18 who were raised by only a mother was steady from
1985-1990. This number dropped eight percent between 1995-2000.31
Attitudes Toward Fathers and Fatherlessness
- Sixty-four percent of Americans believe that the rise of single-parent families is very
problematic.32
- A poll conducted in 1999 found that 77 percent of Americans feel that upsurges in divorce
and single parenting have weakened family connectivity.33
- When asked to name the adult "you most look up to and admire," only 20 percent of
children in single-parent families named their father, compared to 52 percent of children in
two-parent families.34
- Seven in ten adults believe a child needs a home with both a mother and a father to grow
up happy.35
How Father-Love Is Different From
Mother-Love and Why It Matters
Mothers and fathers parent differently, and this difference is a big benefit for children.
Fatherhood is just as essential to healthy child development as motherhood. The professional
journal, Review of General Psychology, finds that "Evidence suggests that the influence of father
love on offspring's development is as great as and occasionally greater than the influence of
mother love."36 Fathering expert Dr. Kyle Pruett explains in Fatherneed: Why Father Care is as
Essential as Mother Care for Your Child, "Fathers do not mother."37 Psychology Today states that,
"Fatherhood turns out to be a complex and unique phenomenon with huge consequences for the
emotional and intellectual growth of children."38 Erik Erikson, a pioneer in the world of
child psychology, explained that father love and mother love are qualitatively different kinds
of love. Fathers "love more dangerously," Erikson states, because their love is more
"expectant, more instrumental" than a mother's love.39 A father, as a male biological
parent, brings unique contributions to the job of parenting a child that no one else can
provide.
These are some of the most compelling ways father involvement makes a unique and positive
difference in a child's life.
Fathers Parent
Differently
The mother/father difference provides an important diversity of
experiences for children. Dr. Pruett explains that fathers have a
distinct style of communication and interaction with children. By
eight weeks of age, infants can tell the difference between their
mother or father in interactions. This diversity, in itself,
provides children with a broader, richer experience of contrasting
relational interactions—more so than for children who are raised by
only one parent. Whether they realize it or not, children are
learning at an early age, through experience, that men and women are
different and have different ways of dealing with life, other
adults, and children.
Fathers Play Differently
While mothers and fathers are both physical
with their children, fathers are typically physical in different
ways. Fathers tend to play with their children, and mothers tend to
care for them. Generally speaking, fathers tickle more, they
wrestle, and they throw their children in the air (while mothers
warn "Not so high!"). Fathers chase their children, sometimes as
playful, scary "monsters." Fathers are louder at play, while mothers
are quieter. Mothers cuddle babies, and fathers bounce them. Fathers
roughhouse, while mothers are gentle. Fathers encourage competition;
mothers encourage equity. Fathers encourage independence while
mothers encourage security.
Fathering expert John Snarey notes that children who roughhouse with their fathers learn
that biting, kicking, and other forms of physical violence are not acceptable.40 They learn self-control by
being told when "enough is enough" and when to "settle down."
Fathers help girls and boys learn a healthy balance between timidity
and aggression. Children need mom's softness, as well as dad's
roughhousing. Both provide security and confidence in their own ways
by communicating love and physical intimacy.
Fathers Build Confidence
Go to any playground and listen to the parents
there. Who is often encouraging kids to swing or climb just a little
higher, ride their bike just a little faster, or throw just a little
harder? Who is encouraging kids to be careful? Mothers tend toward
caution while fathers often encourage kids to push the limits.
Either of these parenting styles by themselves can be unhealthy. One
can tend toward encouraging risk without consideration of
consequences. The other tends to avoid risk, which can fail to build
independence, confidence, and progress. Joined together, they keep
each other in balance and help children remain safe while expanding
their experiences and confidence.
Fathers Communicate Differently
A major study showed that, when speaking to children, mothers and fathers are different.41 Mothers
typically simplify their words and speak on the child's level.
Fathers are not as inclined to modify their language for the
child.
Mother's way facilitates immediate communication. Father's way
challenges the child to expand his or her vocabulary and linguistic
skills—an important building block of academic success.
Father's talk tends to be more brief, directive, and to the
point. It also makes greater use of facial expressions and subtle
body language. Mothers tend to be more descriptive, personal, and
verbally encouraging. Children who do not learn how to understand
and use both styles of conversation will be at a disadvantage,
because they will experience both of these styles as they enter the
adult world.
Fathers Discipline Differently
Educational psychologist Carol Gilligan tells us that fathers stress justice, fairness, and
duty (based on rules), while mothers stress sympathy, care and help (based on relationships).42 Fathers tend to observe and
enforce rules systematically and sternly, which teach children the
objectivity and consequences of right and wrong. Mothers tend toward
grace and sympathy in the midst of disobedience, which provide a
sense of hopefulness. Again, either of these by themselves is not
good, but, together, they create a healthy, proper balance.
Fathers Prepare Children for the Real World
Generally speaking,
fathers tend to see their child in relation to the rest of the
world, while mothers tend to see the rest of the world in relation
to their child. For example, mothers are often very aware of things
from the outside world that could hurt their child (e.g., violence,
lightning, accidents, disease, strange people, dogs or cats).
Fathers, while not unconcerned with these things, tend to focus on
how their children will or will not be prepared for something they
might encounter in the world.
Fathers often help children see that particular attitudes and
behaviors have certain consequences. For instance, fathers are more
likely to tell their children that if they are not nice to others,
kids will not want to play with them. Or that, if they don't do well
in school, they will not get into college or land a good job.
Generally speaking, fathers help children prepare for the reality
and harshness of the real world, and mothers help protect against
it. Both are necessary as children grow into adulthood.
Fathers Provide a Look at the World of Men
Men and women are different.
They eat differently. They dress differently. They smell
differently. They cope with life differently. Stereotypically,
fathers do "man things" and mothers do "woman things."
Girls and boys who grow up with a father are more familiar and
secure with the world of men. Girls with involved fathers are more
likely to have healthier, more confident relationships with boys in
adolescence and men in adulthood. This is because girls have a
greater opportunity to learn from their fathers how men should act
toward women. They understand from experience which behaviors are
inappropriate. Girls raised by involved fathers also have a healthy
familiarity with the world of men. They don't wonder how a man's
facial stubble feels or what it's like to be hugged by strong arms.
This knowledge builds emotional security and safety from the
exploitation of predatory males.
Boys who grow up with dads are less likely to be violent. They
have their masculinity affirmed and can learn from their fathers how
to channel that masculinity and strength in positive ways. Fathers
can help boys understand appropriate male sexuality, hygiene, and
age-appropriate behavior. It can be difficult for mothers to teach
these things to their boys.
Fathers Can Teach Respect for the Other Sex
Research consistently shows married fathers are substantially less likely to abuse their wives or
children than other men.43 This means that boys and girls
with married fathers in the home are more likely to learn by
observation how men should treat women.
Girls with involved fathers, therefore, are more likely to select
good boyfriends and husbands because they have had a good model by
which to judge all candidates. Fathers also help weed out bad
candidates. Boys raised with fathers are more likely to be good
husbands because they can emulate their fathers' strengths and learn
from their shortcomings.
The American Journal of Sociology finds that, "Societies with father-present patterns
of child socialization produce men who are less inclined to exclude women from public
activities than their counterparts in father-absent societies."44
Fathers Connect Children with Job Markets
A crucial point in life is
the transition from financial dependence to independence. This is
usually a gradual process, spanning from about 16 to 22 years of
age. Fathers can help connect their children—especially boys—to job
markets as they enter adulthood. Fathers often have the kinds of
diverse community connections needed to help young adults get their
first jobs. When dad is not around, boys may be less likely to have
the connections and motivation necessary to land a summer job.
Conclusion
As noted sociologist David Popenoe explains, "Fathers are far more than just ‘second adults' in
the home. Involved fathers–especially biological fathers–bring positive benefits to their
children that no other person is as likely to bring."45 Fathers
make substantial contributions to the lives of their children.
Children are impoverished developmentally when they are deprived of
their father's love.
The Review of General Psychology states, "Many studies conclude that children with
highly involved fathers, in relation to children with less involved fathers, tend to be more
cognitively and socially competent, less inclined toward gender stereotyping, more empathetic,
and psychologically better adjusted."46
Fathers help children attain all the positive outcomes that Head Start programs do.
Fathers can help Head Start programs become more effective. Head Start programs can help
fathers be more effective in their children's lives. Building Blocks 2-5 will help programs to prepare, plan, and sustain their
efforts to make fathers a key and effective part of their missions.
Reading List:
Resources on Understanding Why Fathers Matter
Paul R. Amato and Fernando Rivera, "Paternal Involvement and Children's Behavior Problems,"
Journal of Marriage and the Family 61
(1999): 375-384
Ronald J. Angel and Jacqueline L. Angel, Painful Inheritance: Health and the New
Generation of Fatherless Families, (Madison: University of
Wisconsin Press, 1993)
Henry B. Biller, Father and Families: Paternal Factors in Child Development (Westport, CT: Auburn
House, 1993)
David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem (New York: Basic
Books, 1994)
Michael E. Lamb, "Fathers: The Forgotten Contributors to Child Development," Human Development 18
(1975): 245-266
Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up With a Single Parent: What Helps, What Hurts (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994)
Ross D. Parke, Fathers (Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 1981)
David Popenoe, Life Without Father
(New York: The Free Press, 1996)
Kyle D. Pruett, Fatherneed: Why Father Care Is as Essential as Mother Care for
Your Child (New York:
The Free Press, 2000)
Ronald P. Rohner and Robert A. Veneziano, "The Importance of Father Love: History and
Contemporary Evidence," Review of General Psychology 5.4 (2001):
382-405
John Snarey, How Fathers Care for the Next Generation (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993)
Endnotes
1 Michael E. Lamb, "Fathers: The Forgotten Contributors to Child Development,"
Human Development 18 (1975): 245-266.
2 Paul R. Amato and Fernando Rivera, "Paternal Involvement and Children's Behavior Problems,"
Journal of Marriage and the Family 61 (1999): 375-384.
3 Rohner and Veneziano, 2001, pp. 382-405.
4 M. Weinraub, "Fatherhood: The Myth of the Second Class Parent,"
in J.H. Stevens and M. Matthews, eds., Mother/Child and Father/Child Relationships
(Washington DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1978), p. 127.
5 Henry B. Biller, Father and Families: Paternal Factors in Child Development
(Westport, CT: Auburn House, 1993).
6 Paul R. Amato, Children in Australian Families: The Growth of Competence (New York: Prentice Hall, 1987). 7 Pruett, 2000, p. 52.
8 Ellen Bing, "The Effect of Child-Rearing Practices on the Development of Differential
Cognitive Abilities," Child Development 34 (1963): 631-648.
9 Norma Radin, "Father-Child Interaction and the Intellectual Functioning of Four-Year-Old Boys,"
Developmental Psychology 6 (1972): 353-361.
10 Ross Parke, Fatherhood (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996).
11 Henry B. Biller, "The Father and Personality Development: Paternal Deprivation and Sex-Role
Development," in Michael E. Lamb, ed., The Role of the Father in Child Development (New York: Wiley & Sons, 1981), p. 104; Norma Radin, cited in Pruett, 2000, p. 45.
12 Michael Yogman, et al., "Father Involvement and Cognitive/Behavioral Outcomes of Preterm
Infants," Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34 (1995): 58-66.
13 Michael E. Lamb, "Introduction: The Emergent American Father," in Michael E. Lamb, ed.,
The Father's Role: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum and Associates), pp. 3-25.
14 Pruett, 2000, p. 41-42.
15 Frank Furstenberg and Kathleen Harris, "When and Why Fathers Matter: Impacts of Father
Involvement on Children of Adolescent Mothers," R. Lerman and T. Ooms, eds. in Young
Unwed Fathers: Changing Roles and Emerging Policies (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993).
16 Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, "Facing the Challenge of Fragmented Families,"
The Philanthropy Roundtable 9.1 (1995): 21.
17 Anne Hill and June O'Neil, Underclass Behaviors in the United States: Measurements and
Analysis or Determinants (New York: City University of New York, 1993).
18 Forensic Psychologist Shawn Johnston, quoted in The Pittsburgh Tribune Review,
March 29, 1998, from Wade and Sylvester, 2002, p. 106.
19 Robert R. Sears, et al., Patterns of Childrearing (Evanston, IL: Row Peterson, 1957);
Pruett, 2000, p. 48.
20 Richard Koestner, et al., "The Family Origins of Empathic Concern:
A Twenty-Six Year Longitudinal Study," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 58 (1990): 709-717.
21 Pruett, 2000, p. 44, 41.
22 Alisa Burns and Cath Scott, Mother-Headed Families and Why They Have Increased
(Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum and Associates, 1994), p. xiii.
23 Wade F. Horn and Tom Sylvester, Father Facts, Fourth Edition
(Gaithersburg, MD: National Fatherhood Initiative, 2002), p. 15.
24 Horn and Sylvester, 2002, p. 15.
25 Horn and Sylvester, 2002, p. 28.
26 U. S. Census Bureau, "Living Arrangements of Children Under 18 Years Old: 1960 to Present."
27 Jason Fields, "The Living Arrangements of Children: Fall 1996," Current
Population Reports, 70-74, Washington D.C.; U.S. Census Bureau, 2001.
28 Horn and Sylvester, 2002, p. 12.
29 U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, P20-537, Table CH-5. Washington DC: U.S. Census Bureau, 2001.
30 U. S. Census Bureau, 2001, Table CH-5.
31 Allen Dupree and Wendell Primus, "Declining Share of Children Living With Single Mothers
in the Late 1990s," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, D.C., June 15, 2001, p. 1.
32 "The Rise of Single-Parent Households." Hart and Teeter Research Companies for NBC News, Wall Street Journal, June 16-19, 1999.
33 New York Times poll, July 17-19, 1999.
34 Horn and Sylvester, 2002, p. 27.
35 George Gallup, "Report on the Status of Fatherhood in the United States," Emerging
Trends 20 (1998): 3-5.
36 Ronald Rohner and Robert Veneziano, "The Importance of Father Love: History and
Contemporary Evidence," Review of General Psychology, 5 (2001) 382-405.
37 Kyle D. Pruett, Fatherneed: Why Father Care is as Essential as Mother Care
for Your Child, (New York: The Free Press, 2000), pp. 17-34.
38 "Shuttle Diplomacy," Psychology Today, July/August 1993, p. 15.
39 As cited in Kyle D. Pruett, The Nurturing Father, (New York: Warner Books, 1987),
p. 49.
40 John Snarey, How Fathers Care for the Next Generation: A Four Decade Study
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993), p. 35-36.
41 Eleanor E. Maccoby, The Two Sexes: Growing Up Apart; Coming Together
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999), p. 269.
42 David Popenoe, Life Without Father: Compelling New Evidence That Fatherhood and
Marriage Are Indispensable for the Good of Children and Society
(New York: The Free Press, 1996) p. 146.
43 Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher, The Case for Marriage
(New York: Doubleday, 2000); David Popenoe, Life Without Father
(New York: The Free Press, 1996); Glenn T. Stanton, Why Marriage Matters: Reasons
to Believe in Marriage in Postmodern Society (Colorado Springs: Pinon Press, 1997).
44 Scott Coltrane, "Father-Child Relationships and the Status of Women: A Cross-Cultural Study,"
American Journal of Sociology, 93 (1988) p. 1088.
45 David Popenoe, Life Without Father (New York: The Free Press, 1996), p. 163.
46 Rohner and Veneziano, 2001, p. 392.
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