This Father’s Day, at least 18.3 million American children will wake up in a fatherless home. The data show that these kids will be four times more likely to live in poverty, twice as likely to drop out of school, and be more prone to antisocial behavior. To be sure, the crisis cuts across racial lines.
Anecdotal evidence and otherwise indicates that boys in fatherless homes will be more likely to also abandon their children as adults or end up divorced. The figures are startling to observe. The cycle, it seems, may never end.
Yet there is some reason for hope.
In 2022, it would appear, at least tangentially, that there are various efforts found in state and federal government, individuals, and faith-based organizations to solve the crisis of absent fathers — and each plays a vital role in solving the problem.
One organization dedicated to helping American families is the American Principles Project (APP). A core belief of the APP is that a strong family — and strong fathers — are needed for the American experiment to function.
“The family is the most important institution in society, period,” APP president Terry Schilling told The Daily Wire in a statement. “Strong families are the glue that hold society together.”
“The social science on this is very clear: children who grow up in intact families are better off across the board,” Schilling added. “They are more healthy, perform better academically, are more successful professionally, and are more likely to avoid issues like poverty and crime. Every child deserves to grow up in a stable household, and we should be doing all we can to work toward this goal.”
Schilling — like many other experts on the subject — in part blames government policy that disincentivizes fatherhood as well as larger cultural trends that denigrate the family. As others have argued, examples of those sorts of trends may be in welfare policies that do not encourage parents to stay together as well as hook-up culture and other messages from Hollywood and academia that the family unit is irrelevant to society.
As a result, Schilling now says that reversing the trend of fatherlessness must become a “priority for policymakers.”
“Fortunately, we are beginning to see some movement in this area, such as with the Republican Study Committee’s recently announced Family Policy Initiative,” Schilling told The Daily Wire.
“Although rebuilding the family will not be easy, there are some obvious areas to start – for example, we must eliminate marriage penalties in government programs that incentivize broken families,” he explained. “We should also start to reorient those programs to encourage family formation, through proposals such as Sen. Mitt Romney’s recently announced Family Security Act.”
Romney’s Family Security Act is a “pro-family, pro-life, and pro-marriage plan” that “would modernize antiquated federal policies into a fully paid-for, cash benefit for working families starting during pregnancy, amounting to $350 a month for each young child, and $250 a month for each school-aged child.”
Unlike previous welfare programs, Romney’s plan makes it more advantageous for parents to stay together. It does not seek to replace the father in providing for the family, but rather makes it easier for them to raise children while working.
There are efforts like this at the state level as well. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) recently signed a new law that encourages and promotes fatherhood and men staying around in their kids’ lives.
While speaking about the variety of issues facing the American people, DeSantis recently said, “I do think there are a lot of problems, but if you could just snap your finger and do one thing, and you did this where the fathers were in the home, you would not even need to worry about a lot of these other problems.”
But it is not as simple as snapping your fingers. Monetary assistance may help parents provide material needs for minors, but young men often need to be taught life and work lessons that they lacked during childhood.
By funding mentoring programs and career services, Florida’s new law assists in that effort by teaching young men how to better themselves for their families.
“We cannot legislate fatherhood, accountability or character, but we can provide supports for fathers to equip and encourage them to take an active role in the lives of their children,” Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls said while promoting the law.
Sprowls is right; quality fathers cannot be legislated into existence.
As pointed out by Devin Schadt, founder of the Catholic group Fathers of St. Joseph, there have been numerous government attempts to solve the problem, with little to show for it. Schadt has written a number of books on the topic, leads groups, gives talks, and regularly appears on various podcasts to discuss the importance of fatherhood and, how as Catholics believe, it is a Divine position of authority.
Government programs, Schadt points out, “neglect to mention the one essential characteristic of the father: he is the spiritual and sacrificial leader.” While paraphrasing Pope St. John Paul II, Schadt told The Daily Wire, “the human father’s mission is to relive and reveal the very fatherhood of God.’”
For Schadt, the importance of fatherhood goes well beyond what is measured by the census or crime stats. Schadt says that we must first remind fathers of the fundamental reason for their existence.
“The solution to the famine of fatherhood is to feed fathers so that they may feed their families. And what ought we to be feeding fathers?” Schadt posed to The Daily Wire. “A vision of their noble mission and duty; and after confirming them in their heroic mission, properly equip them with the spiritual ideals and tools to fulfill it, while also identifying and removing the obstacles that are incapacitating them from living it.”
Schadt believes the Church, and Christianity, must play an active role in revitalizing fatherhood.
“When the Church proclaims that fathers and husbands are anointed and appointed by God to be the sacrificial, spiritual leaders of their domestic churches, that is, their families, men will be emboldened to live their fatherly vocation with heroism…and the family will be transformers,” Schadt argued.
The importance of fathers transcends all religions and cultures. As pointed out by Dennis Prager, a religious Jew, “For all of recorded history, the need to explain why fathers are necessary would have been regarded as, well, unnecessary. It would have been like explaining why water, or air, is necessary.”
Yet, we must explain why they’re necessary and must lead by example in that effort.
At the local level, groups like the “Becoming A Man” club in Culpeper, Virginia, are becoming more popular across America. This past year, a group of community members began the BAM club for fourth and fifth graders in Culpeper. The group meets every two weeks and boys are taught basic life skills as well as the principles of the BAM Club which are “a strong moral foundation, respect for all, disrespect for none, give back, selfless attitude, compete in life, and W.I.N (What’s Important Now).”
The group provides young boys with positive male role models, which can help fulfill a fatherly role – albeit ever so slightly.
While it is unclear how long it will take to reverse the trend of absent fathers, folks have reason to take heart. Policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels are crafting new ways to assist fathers in carrying out their duties.
Similarly, non-government groups, like the Fathers of St. Joseph as well as the BAM group, are providing examples of how men – regardless of their parenting status – can assist in their community. In all of those efforts, men of integrity are needed to volunteer their time.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.