Essay about Single Fatherhood - 552 Words

Single Fatherhood Single fathers are a minority. They are rare, but growing rapidly as more and more people can fathom a father being able to satisfy the needs of his children. Single fathers are not given sole custody without a fight. A much harder one than what a Mother would have to endure. Normally, custody is given to the mother. Lately, however, fathers are starting to care more about their childrens best interests, and are begining to fight against the sterotypes society has dealt them. Being the child of a single father, I have heard the stories. For 17 years I have heard the stories. But could society have been so blind? No. The courts could have, though. Statistics I have collected showed that even when both†¦show more content†¦Society seems to have a gap between the image of fathers and the actual role of fathers. Now, the fastest growing family unit in the United States are single fathers with sole custody of children under the age of 18. In 1970, there were 393,000 single fathers with sole custody. That number jumped to 1.9 million in 1996. Of these numbers, 48% are divorced, 28% were never married, 18% were seperated, and 5% are widowed. underlying this gradual shift is the attitude more and more people are taking towards men and womens societal roles. Along with being more career oriented, women are starting to feel less guilty about losing custody to their partner, and are finding that they arent always the more suitable parent. At the same time, men are no longer feeling such a strong need to be defined by their job. Also, fathers fear that once they are divorced, they will rarely see their kids, and do not want to be part-time parents. Father-by-default families are another contributing factor to the shift. In this case, the mothers were either not found, or had drug-addiction or alcohol dependency problems, and child welfare agencies sought the fathers. This is most prominent in poverty stricken families. Single father adoption numbers have jumped significantly as well thanks to gay fathers rights groups, and political pressure from the gay community.Show MoreRelatedThe Responsibilities of Fatherhood Essay1307 Words   |  6 Pagesstatistical data rarely differentiate men who are not fathers from those who are fathers. Again, very little information concerning fatherhood and what fathers want is available to people. Written literature on fatherhood and written accounts about fatherhood from men who are fathers are also relatively rare. There is certainty that the environment around fatherhood has increasingly changed when it comes to domestic domain, employment and breadwinning, the structure of the family an d employment (FNFRead MoreIs The Most Socially Consequential Family Trend Of Our Generation?990 Words   |  4 Pageslisted social issues. 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