Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood

Father involvement is essential to child well-being. According to the National Fatherhood Initiative’s Father Facts 4th Edition, 24 million children live in homes without their biological fathers. This is attributed to the divorce rate and number of children born to unmarried parents. Regardless of their marital status, learning relationship skills that can help a child’s parents to communicate and co-parent effectively can improve outcomes for that child.

In its efforts to increase the likelihood that children will grow up in a loving, secure, and connected family, the federal government, in addition to the healthy marriage initiative, has created a closely related initiative to promote responsible fatherhood. These two initiatives complement one another’s efforts to encourage family connections that will create an environment where children are provided with the security and support they need to grow up healthy and happy. For additional information about the fatherhood initiative, please visit the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse at www.fatherhood.gov.

Additional Resources

The Benefits of Marriage for African American Men (PDF - 359 KB) Claudia Sitgraves -- Research and strategies to improve the well-being of African American men.
Restoring Fathers to Families and Communities: Six Steps for Policymakers. Social Policy Action Network. State and local policymakers are advised to follow a six-step strategy for developing initiatives to promote father-child relationships: teach men to be good parents; help fathers improve relationships with the mothers of their children; facilitate employment for low-income fathers; allocate federal funds to programs for fathers; enhance the child support system; and increase public awareness about the value of fathers.