Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Less Than 3% of Dad's Are Single

I saw an interesting statistic. In 2010, there were an estimated 1.8 million single fathers. That in itself isn’t particularly interesting until you consider that the same source estimated that there were 70.1 million fathers in the United States. I realize there are problems in the American home and many marriages fail, but the fact that of 70.1 million fathers, less then 3% are considered single fathers ought to tell us something about the value people place on marriage. To be fair, I think the statistics left “common law” marriages out of the single dad figure, but the fact is that people still place value on a man and a woman raising children together. Maybe they’re confused about the need for people to get married and stay married, but they believe that children need the influence of both women and men.