| Facts and Figures about Fathers, Mothers and Children 79.6% of custodial mothers receive a support award 29.9% of custodial fathers receive a support award 46.9% of non-custodial mothers totally default on support 26.9% of non-custodial fathers totally default on support 20.0% of non-custodial mothers pay support at some level 61.0% of non-custodial fathers pay support at some level 66.2% of single custodial mothers work less than full-time 10.2% of single custodial fathers work less than full-time 7.0% of single custodial mothers work more than 44 hours weekly 24.5% of single custodial fathers work more than 44 hours weekly 46.2% of single custodial mothers receive public assistance 20.8% of single custodial fathers receive public assistance --Technical Analysis Paper No. 42 - U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services - Office of Income Security Policy 90.2% of fathers with joint custody pay the support due 79.1% of fathers with visitation privileges pay the support due 44.5% of fathers with no visitation pay the support due 37.9% of fathers are denied any visitation 66.0% of all support not paid by non-custodial fathers is due to inability to pay --1988 Census "Child Support and Alimony: 1989 Series P-60, No. 173 p. 6-7. and U.S. General Accounting Office Report" GAO/HRD-92-39FS January, 1992 50% of mothers see no value in the father's continued contact with his children. --See Surviving the Breakup by Joan Berlin Kelly 40% of mothers reported that they had interfered with the father's visitation to punish their ex-husband --See "Frequency of Visitation...." by Stanford Braver, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes --U.S.D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes 85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes --Center for Disease Control 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes --Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 14, p. 403-26 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes --National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools 70% of juveniles in state operated institutions come from fatherless homes --U.S. Dept. of Justice, Special Report, Sept., 1988 85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in a fatherless home --Fulton County Georgia jail populations & Texas Dept. of Corrections, 1992 Translated, the above data means that children from a fatherless home are: 5 times more likely to commit suicide 32 times more likely to run away 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders 14 times more likely to commit rape 9 times more likely to drop out of school 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances 9 times more likely to end up in a state operated institution 20 times more likely to end up in prison 11,268,000 total number of U.S. custodial mothers 2,907,000 total number of U.S. custodial fathers --Current Population Reports, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Series P-20, No. 458, 1991 $14,800,000,000 total child support owed $11,100,000,000 total child support paid --Current Population Reports, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Series P-123, No. 173, 1988 Percentage of children in single parent families, by year: 1950 = 7.1% 1992 = 24.0% --U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-20, Household and Family Characteristics, various years; and Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March, 1988-1990, Nos 433, 445, and 450 "90% of the violence and kidnapping we have seen are in sole custody situations in which the sole custodial parent (mother) fears losing her custody status, or the parentectomized parent kidnaps the child away from the sole custody parent who possessively blocks the visiting parent from access." •Source(s): (pg. 4, Col. 1, 1, lines 3-9) Child Custody and Parental Cooperation - Frank Williams, M.D., Dir. Psychiatry - Cedar-Sinai - Presented at American Bar Association, Family Law Section, August 1987 and January 1988. - Kidnapping and Violence in Relation to Custody - Reprinted in Joint Custodian, Jan. 1988 "A child living with his/her divorced mother, compared to a child living with both parents is 375% more likely to need professional treatment for emotional or behavioral problems and is almost twice as likely to repeat a grade of school, is more likely to suffer chronic asthma, frequent headaches, and/or bedwetting, develop a stammer or speech defect, suffer from anxiety or depression, and be diagnosed as hyperactive." •Source: National Center for Health Statistics "55.3% of children living with divorced mothers and 59.2% of children living with remarried mothers, suffer from anxiety or depression." •Source National Center for Health Statistics "Daughters in single mother homes have more negative attitudes toward men in general and their fathers in particular." •Source(s): (pg. 146 , 2, lines 5 - 8) Interparental Conflict, Relationship with the Noncustodial Father, and Adolescent Post-Divorced Adjustment - Gene Brody and Rex Forehand, University of Georgia, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 11, No. 2, April - June 1990 "Non custodial parents, who are usually men (96%), are likely to be negatively affected in psychological ways. A most pervasive problem is suffering caused by the feeling that they have lost their children." •Source(s): (pg. 279, col. 2, 2, lines 1 - 5) Increasing Our Understanding of Fathers Who Have Infrequent Contact With Their Children - James R. Dudley, Professor, University North Carolina, under a grant from Temple University, Family Relations, Vol. 4, No. 3, July 1991 "Divorced fathers reported significantly more depressive symptoms than did married fathers." •Source(s): (pg. 130 Col. 2, 2, lines 6 - 10) The Role of Paternal Variables in Divorced and Married Families - Amanda Thomas and Rex Forehand, American Journal of Othopsychiatry, Vol. 63, No. 1, January 1993 "One clear message from the accumulated divorce research is that children profit immeasurably by continued exposure to both parents" • Source(s): (pg. 61, 1, lines 1 - 3) Visitation and the Noncustodial Father - Mary Ann P. Koch, Carol R. Lowery, Journal of Divorce, Vol. 8, No. 2, Winter 1984 "Adolescents who reported closer relationships with their non-custodial fathers were assessed as displaying fewer internalizing problems." •Source(s): (pg. 139, 1, lines 8 - 10) Interparental Conflict, Relationship with the Noncustodial Father, and Adolescent Post- Divorced Adjustment - Gene Brody and Rex Forehand, University of Georgia, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 11, No. 2, April - June 1990 "Fathers have much to offer their adolescent children in many areas, including their career development, moral development, and sex role identification." •Source(s): (pg. 284, col. 2, 5, lines 6 - 10) Increasing Our Understanding of Fathers Who Have Infrequent Contact With Their Children - James R. Dudley, Professor, University North Carolina, under a grant from Temple University, Family Relations, Vol. 40, No. 3, July 1991 "Fathers who spend time with their children teach them values." •Source(s): (pg. 87, Col. 1, 2, Lines 23 - 26) Relationships between Fathers and Children Who Live Apart: The Father's Role after Separation - Judith A. Seltzer, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 53, No. 1, February 1991 "Significant correlations were found between the father's reports of positive relationships with their adolescent offspring and teacher reports of less anxiety/withdrawal on the part of the adolescents." •Source(s): (pg. 130, col. 2, 3, lines 7 - 12) The Role of Paternal Variables in Divorced and Married Families - Amanda Thomas and Rex Forehand, American Journal of Othopsychiatry, Vol. 63, No. 1, January 1993 Not only did the children's need for their father continue, it also tended to rise with new intensity at adolescence, especially when it was time for the children to leave home. and The nature of the father-child relationship, not the frequency of visiting, is most influential in a child's psychological development. •Source(s): J. Wallerstein, S. Blakeslee, "Second Chances: Men, Women and Children a Decade After Divorce," 1989. Children of single parents have a 77% greater risk of being harmed by physical abuse and an 80% greater risk of suffering serious injuries than kids living with two parents. Of kids maltreated by birth parents, 75% were harmed by their mothers and 46% by their fathers. •Source(s): Department of Health and Human Services. ~~~ The following appeared in the Washington Times... .....This seems to indicate that the problems children encounter are not related to single-parent households, but are related specifically to single-mother-headed households. So, should we blame the mothers or the fathers? Perhaps, neither. There is no question that father-absence has reached epidemic proportions. However, these afflictions were surprisingly uncommon in the 15% of single-parent households headed by men. A study of all state child protective services agencies in the country - by the Children's Rights Coalition, a child advocacy and research organization in Austin, Texas - found that biological mothers physically abuse their children at twice the rate of biological fathers. The majority of the rest of the time, children are abused because of single-mothers' poor choices in the subsequent men in their lives. Incidences of abuse were almost non-existent in single-father-headed households. The data show that placing children only with mothers is likely to be detrimental to children and society, so why do we continue public policies favoring sole-mother-placement? Have we become so paternalistic toward women that it anesthetizes our common sense? Surprisingly few people realize that, until the end of WW I, U.S. laws and courts automatically placed the children of divorce not with their mothers, but with their fathers. For thousands of years societal conventions instructed the placement of children with their fathers in most cultures all over the globe. Why? Because it works. It puts children with their strongest protectors and it puts boys with their traditional guides to civilized manhood. Yet, these essential fatherhood roles - protector and civilizer - seem to have been forgotten, today. Never before have fathers been cast aside as they have been in the United States during the last 30 - 40 years. Never before has such a strong society become as threatened as we are, for this solitary reason. Regrettably, as long as we continue to hold to the relatively new idea that only mothers are capable of being parents, and ignore the essential role of fathers, our children will remain at risk. The single-mother-headed-household must go the way of the slum high-rise dwelling. Both are human disaster zones. Both are exalted attempts at social engineering that ignore God's blueprint for human society. What is needed? Our Father in heaven and our fathers here on earth - as well as a society that values them, includes them, and encourages their involvement in their families. Stuart Miller and Rich Zubaty are Political Analysts with the American Fathers Coalition in Washington, D.C. According to Wade Horn of the National Fatherhood Initiative, we must reverse the trend in 7 - 8 years or it will be too late to do so. And, how has our government responded to this crisis? By continuing to drive fathers out of the family. It is bad enough that some fathers abandon their families, but it is unconscionable that our federal and state policies drive fathers away from their families. With 80+ percent of divorces involving children resulting in sole-mother-custody, combined with a "no man in the house rule" and "presumptive sole-mother-custody" in welfare cases - we are not blameless from a policy perspective. We must change our policies, practices and procedures to specifically include fathers in families. If not, we can be certain that social spending will continue to increase and we will be plagued with an ever burgeoning population of maladjusted children who will fill our prisons and wreak havoc on society. Social research data reveal that our blind reliance only on the nurturing value of mothers is inadequate and misplaced. •Source(s): Reuniting Fathers With Their Families - By Stuart A. Miller and Rich Zubaty - Washington Times (12/19/95 - A19) |
| --PEERgroup --Parental Equality Enforcement Resource |
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| "All the cards were marked in advance. The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance." - Bob Dylan, Hurricane |
| Magistrate Christina Miller's and Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura's unwillingness to take meaningful action to safeguard the emotional health of Teri Ann in this case has laid the foundation of long-term emotional and psychological problems for Teri Ann. The unwillingness of these judges' to remove Teri Ann from the emotionally destructive influence of her mother so that she can have a relationship with her father is likely to have serious negative impact on this child. Several professionals in this case have pleaded with these judges to help this child, but neither MiIller or Bonaventura were willing to enforce their own court orders to repair the relationship between father and daughter. Every effort made by therapists to reunite Garry and Teri Ann and address the false molestation accussations with Teri Ann were halted by Kathy. Consequently, Teri Ann still believes her father molested her because the court has not allowed her to recieve the therapy she has needed. It seems logical to us that if Teri Ann continues to grow up believing this, she'll likely suffer the same risks in her emotional development as someone who was really molested. Together, Miller and Bonaventura have created a victim where there should have been none and set the stage for a possible lifetime of suffering for this innocent child. The final report generated in this case was from Dr. Phillip Helding in October 2000. Finding #4, from page 3 of his report, points to the possible onset of psychologcial problems already beginning to show in Teri Ann. Dr. Helding wrote: "Teri Ann is a troubled and confused girl. She has severe identity related issues. She presents in 'pseudomature fashion' with near scripted positions on various issues, including but not limited to those having to do with her father. She presents as a classical 'false self', a repository for the projections of her parent(s). She is likely to have serious difficulties in relating to others, in but the most superficial manner...she has [been] prematurely exposed to many issues that she otherwise would has [sic] been protected from until mature." Here are some other facts and documented risks to children who grow up fatherless. |
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