Study on the Role of Fathers

Al Mohler points to the research of W. Bradford Wilcox of the University of Virginia, who argues that fathers play an essential role in the raising of children.

His recent study, "Religion, Race, and Relationships in Urban America," suggests that fathers play a very important role in five specific domains of children's lives.

As Wilcox explains, fathers serve this unique role in providing financially for their children, protecting their children from abuse and neglect, teaching their children how to regulate their bodies and emotions through play, disciplining their children (especially boys), and modeling good male-female relationships to their sons and daughters.

Mohler cites four key findings from Wilcox's study:

1. Boys who grow up with their fathers in an intact, married home are 50 percent less likely to end up in prison as young adults than children living in a single-parent or step-family.
2. Children living with their fathers in an intact, married home are almost 50 percent less likely to be sexually abused than children living in a single-parent home.
3. Girls who grow up apart from their fathers typically experience the onset of puberty at an earlier age and have sex at an earlier age than girls who grow up with their fathers in an intact, married home. They are also three times more likely to become young, unwed mothers.
4. Communities with large numbers of fatherless households are significantly more likely to experience high levels of murder and robbery.

Joe Carter has cites a number of interesting statistics about the crucial role of fathers.