Perspective: The ‘father divide’ and what it means for our kids
Dads probably shouldn’t take it personally. People tend to feel more sentimental toward their mothers. But while public displays of affection might matter less to dads than to moms, a new report on the impact fathers have on their kids suggests we shouldn’t underestimate how much dads matter. Roughly one in four Virginia kids is growing up without a dad at home. The report found these children are about twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression and three times as likely to have behavior or learning problems at school.Perhaps most strikingly, this new research finds that dads seem to matter differently for girls and boys. Social science has long found that family turmoil manifests itself more in “externalizing” behavior from boys — more fighting, delinquency and trouble at school —whereas for girls it shows up in more “internalizing” behavior — more self-harm, anxiety and depression. This pattern is what we found in this new report.By contrast, boys with less involved dads were just 3 percentage points less likely to be depressed. Clearly, good dads make for less-depressed girls and better-behaved boys in Virginia. This new report is consistent with research indicating that dads are integral to the health of their families.And in Virginia, we find that married residential dads are about three times more likely to be highly involved with their kids, compared to cohabiting dads. Our report is consistent with the idea that children in intact, married families typically get the most attention and affection from their fathers.
