IntroductIon

arriage is mans social institution for the expression and fulfillment of sexuality and its natural end: childbirth and the family. This institution is organic and pre-political; it was not invented or commanded, but rather derived through the process of human development. Every society has sanctioned marriage as moral and necessary to cultivate the soul and character of individuals specifically, and the welfare of society generally. In contemporary western cultures, various social and political changes have eroded the marriage institution. This is evident in the divorce revolution and rapid expansion of pseudo-marital relationships manufactured by cultural, legal and political authorities. More and more, sexual promiscuity is accepted outside of marriage, and with it are childbearing and single-parenthood. This has decayed the chemistry and composition of marriages purpose children and the family. Above all, children benefit the most from stable family life. Families provide order, instruction, security, and

sustenance to children. Scientists and social researchers have dedicated thousands of pages of research to determine what unique characteristics mothers and fathers provide to children separately, and how the marriage union affects children and their development. Erosion of the marriage institution, however, has left those dependent on it children helpless and vulnerable. Besides basic human intuition and life experience, many scientific analyses of the role of marriage evidence the importance of marriage and the natural, nuclear family to children. Evidence overwhelmingly shows that pseudo-marital institutions cannot replace marriage for the family it fosters. Policymkers should consider what environment protects natural marriage and the family structure. A brief glimpse into scientific research will highlight what mothers, fathers, and the family contribute to child welfare, and what every child needs.

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What Fathers GIve to chIldren

I. Role Model and Sexual Development
Fathers who are involved encourage their sons to identify with and model that fathering behavior when they have sons of their own.
Kyle D. Pruett, Fatherneed (New York: The Free Press, 2000) 19

relationships for boys because boys are socialized to be more autonomous and non-expressive as a part of their masculine identity.
Risch, Sharon; Jodl, Kathleen; Eccles, Jaquelynne. Role of the Father-Adolescent Relationship in Shaping Adolescents Attitude Toward Divorce. Journal of Marriage and the Family 66. February 2004. pp. 46-58.

Adolescent girls who have a close relationship with their fathers are more likely to delay sexual activity. Among a sample of adolescent virgins from intact twoparent families, females who reported having a close relationship with their father during the initial interview were less likely to report having engaged in sexual intercourse during a follow-up interview one year later, when compared to similar females who did not report having a close relationship with their father.
Mark D. Regnerus and Laura B. Luchies, The Parent-Child Relationship and Opportunities for Adolescents First Sex, Journal of Family Issues 27, No. 2 (2006): 159-183. Stable URL: <http://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/13/beyond-breadwinnerhow-fathers-make-a-difference-in-their-childrens-life-prospects>

Traditional depictions of fatherhood, including involved and uninvolved roles in a childs life, describe the father as disciplinarian, sex role model, playmate, and pal.
Brekhus, Wayne. Social Marking and the Mental Coloring of Identity: Sexual Identity Construction and Maintenance in the United States. 1996, pp. 499 of 497-522

Religiously involved fathers are more likely to maintain personal relationships with their young children. Even after controlling for demographic differences, fathers who put more emphasis on religion (according to a six-dimension measure of religiosity) reported better relationships, better relationship expectations, and greater emotional support than fathers with less religious emphasis.
Valarie King, The Influence of Religion on Fathers Relationships with Their Children, Journal of Marriage and Family 65, No. 2 (May 2003): 382-395.

The presence of a father in the home was a significant protective factor in reducing sexual activity among adolescent girls. Conversely, father absence was strongly associated with elevated risk for early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy. This association was only partly explained by the implications of father absence, such as economic disadvantage or distress of a divorce. Even when factors such as income and education were factored in, the presence or absence of a father was a powerful predictor.
Bruce J. Ellis, Does father absence place daughters at special risk for early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy? Child Development, Vol. 74, May 2003: 801

Evidence suggests that where father absence is not related to family breakdown or parental relationship failure (such as death), deleterious effects on children are greatly reduced. Father absence due to family breakdown and discord associated with divorce or parental conflict can result in changed family values and negative parental views inflicted on children.
East, Leah et al. Father Absence and Adolescent Development. Journal of Child Health Care, Dec. 2006. pp. 285-291.

Boys who feel close to their fathers, regardless of biological status, have better attitudes about intimacy and the prospect of their own married lives than boys who do not feel close to their fathers.
Risch, Sharon; Jodl, Kathleen; Eccles, Jaquelynne. Role of the Father-Adolescent Relationship in Shaping Adolescents Attitude Toward Divorce. Journal of Marriage and the Family (66) February 2004. pp. 46-58.

II. Intelligence/Problem Solving Skills

Good grades, high aptitude, and general academic success often reflect positive father involvement. While father-like role models can also influence the development of a young child to a great extent, especially academically, they do not have the same obligations or expectations as biological fathers, nor do they have the same relationship with the mother.

Close father-adolescent relationships may foster more positive attitudes toward intimacy in adult romantic

Greene, Angela; Halle, Tamara; Menestrel, Suzanne; Moore, Kristin; et al. Measuring Involvement in Young Childrens lives: Recommendations for a Fatherhood Module for the ECLS-B. Child Trends, Inc. National Center for Education Statistics, Feb. 2001

With the quality of the mother-child relationship controlled, studies significantly indicate that the father-child relationship predicted childrens GPAs. Also, father pessimism was associated with lower job expectations among children, even with mothers pessimism controlled.
Rivera, Fernando and Amato, Paul. Paternal Involvement and Childrens Behavior Problems. Journal of Marriage and the Family May 1999 pp. 375-384. Published by National Council on Family Relations.

linquent activities, more likely to experience depression and anxiety, and more likely to report externalizing and internalizing behavioral problems. High quality biological father interaction is beneficial for a range of child and adolescent socio-behavioral outcomes.
Carlson, Marcia J. Columbia University. Family Structure, Father Involvement, and Adolescent Behavioral Outcomes. Journal of Marriage and Family 68, Feb. 2006, pp. 137-154

According to the National Survey of Family and Households, 31 percent of children of divorced households and 37 percent of children born out of wedlock dropped out of high school. This is compared to the 13 percent of children born to traditional homes.
Amato, Paul. Father-Child Relations, Mother-Child Relations, and Offspring Psychological Well-Being in early Adulthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family, vol. 56, No. 4 Nov 1994, pp. 1031-1042.

Fathers directly affect their childrens development in numerous ways. These include: better adaptive and problem solving abilities displayed through greater tolerance for stress and frustration and a confidence in thoughts and abilities to try new things; heightened social competencies exhibited by a better ability to emotionally attach to others and to demonstrate self-control in social settings, and a greater sense of moral sensitivity by considering the needs of others, exhibiting less disruptive behavior and demonstrating responsible behavior.
Kyle D. Pruett, Fatherneed (New York: The Free Press, 2000) 41-52

Children not living with both biological parents are 4 times as likely to be suspended or expelled from school as are children with both parents at home. Accordingly, having a father at home not only heads off violent behavior but also helps boost student achievement.
Rodney, Elaine and Mupier, Robert. Behavioral Differences between African American Male Adolescents with Biological Fathers and those without Biological Fathers in the Home. Journal of Black Studies, Volume 30 Issue 1. September 1999, pp. 45-61.

Children whose fathers share meals, spend leisure time, engage in home activities with them, or assist them in reading or with homework have significantly better academic performance than those whose fathers do not.
Cooksey, Elizabeth and Fondell, Michelle. Spending Time with His Kids: Effects of Family Structure on Fathers and Childrens Lives. Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 58 Aug. 1996, pp. 693-707.

Over the past several decades, many social scientists have suggested a correlation between some adolescent crime and father absence. Some suggest that parental absence in particular contributes to juvenile crime because of inadequate parental supervision. Analysis of the family structure indicated that father absence has a detrimental effect on delinquency and, when compounded with other family-related stresses, had an apparent negative effect on serious criminal behaviors, alcoholism, and occupational achievement. Father availability plays an important role in the esteem in African American boys. Accordingly, African American boys who were living in father-absent homes or reported poor parental relationships were more likely to exhibit low self-esteem, field dependant behavior, and hyper-masculinity.
Rodney, Elaine and Mupier, Robert. Behavioral Differences between African American Male Adolescents with Biological Fathers and those without Biological Fathers in the Home. Journal of Black Studies, Volume 30 Issue 1. September 1999, pp. 45-61.

III. Behavioral Skills/Self Control

Extensive research shows that living apart from ones biological father is associated with a greater risk of adverse outcomes for children and adolescents, regardless of race, education, or mothers remarriage. Children living apart from their fathers are more likely to be suspended or expelled from school, more likely to engage in de-

Father involvement is directly related to a childs externalized emotional and behavioral problems. Children with half-siblings across multiple families are more likely to have behavioral problems due to lack of interest and involvement from the father.
Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew, Allison Horowitz, Mindy E. Scott and David Johnson. Fathering with Multiple Partners: Links to Childrens Well-Being in Early Childhood Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 71, No. 3 (Aug., 2009), pp. 608-631

Although peer influence was found to increase the likelihood of an adolescent using marijuana, this influence is weakened if the adolescents are close to their fathers or afraid of getting caught.
Cassandra J. Dorius et al., Parenting Practices as Moderators of the Relationship Between Peers and Adolescent Marijuana Use, Journal of Marriage and Family 66, No. 1 February 2004: 163-178.

IV. Responsibility, Autonomy and Psychological Health

Single motherhood and father absence impacted adolescent development by hindering career aspirations, personal relationships, and had deleterious effects on self-identity. Father absence in adolescence was associated with early sexual activity, low self-esteem, and generally lower achievements compared to children raised in dyadic families.
East, Leah et al. Father Absence and Adolescent Development. Journal of Child Health Care, Dec. 2006. pp. 285-291.

Adult childrens perceived closeness to fathers is bound up with several dimensions of their psychological well-being, and these associations are independent of perceived closeness to mothers. The general point is that fathers appear to be uniquely psychologically salient figures in their adult childrens lives.
Amato, Paul. Father-Child Relations, Mother-Child Relations, and Offspring Psychological Well-Being in early Adulthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family, vol. 56, No. 4 Nov 1994, pp. 1031-1042.

Father involvement in their childrens lives appeared significantly and independently related to child happiness and well-being. Fathers are salient figures in the lives of adolescents. In fact, for self-reported happiness in adolescents the unique effect of perceived father involvement carried more weight than that of perceived mother involvement.
Flouri, Eirini and Buchanan, Ann. The Role of Father Involvement and Mother Involvement in Adolescents Psychological Well-Being. British Journal of Social Work (2003) vol. 33, 399-406.

What Mothers GIve to chIldren

I. Nurturance/Caregiving
Breastfeeding lowers the risk of hospitalization due to respiratory illness in infancy to one-third the risk of formula-fed infants.
Virginia R. Galton Bachrach, Eleanor Schwartz, and Lela Rose Bachrach, Breastfeeding and the risk of hospitalization for respiratory disease, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Vol. 157, 2003: 237-243

Mothers and significant other adult are the strongest support factors within the lives of African American boys, even when they become young adults. Mothers are pivotal support for children, especially boys, even into adulthood. Competent mothers can insulate a child against criminal influences, even in deteriorated neighborhoods. Maternal influence can reduce the likelihood of delinquency in boys.
Rodney, Elaine and Mupier, Robert. Behavioral Differences between African American Male Adolescents with Biological Fathers and those without Biological Fathers in the Home. Journal of Black Studies, Volume 30 Issue 1. September 1999. Pp. 45-61

Researchers found that the more time a child spent in non-maternal care in the first 4 years of life, the more the child exhibited problem behavior, disobedience and aggression. Conversely, more time spent in maternal care resulted in fewer negative behaviors. The increased levels of negative behavior, reported by mothers, caregivers and kindergarten teachers, were exhibited regardless of type or quality of non-maternal care.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network, Does amount of time spent in child care predict socio-emotional adjustment during the transition to kindergarten? Child Development, Vol. 74, 2003: 976-1005.

Women are biologically hardwired to tend to children. They can detect changes in color that may be related to sickness better than their male counterparts, are more apt to crying and emotional sensitivity, and physically reactive to childrens stimuli, where in men reactivity is more likely a learned response.
Valenzona, Rosa. Motherhood and Dignity of Women, republished with permission on. lifeissues.net, 2008. http://www. lifeissues.net/writers/vale/vale_05motherhood.html

Regardless of the earning status of both parents and the fact that they spent an equal amount of time with their children, mothers still reported taking more responsibility for helping their children with school work, disciplining their children, and participating in fun activities with them. Fathers in the study also acknowledged that the childs mother tended to take primary responsibility for these activities.
Kimberly Renk, Rex Roberts, Angela Roddenberry, Mary Luick, Sarah Hillhouse, Cricket Mehan, Arazais Oliveros, Vicky Phares, Mothers, Fathers, Gender role, and Time Parents Spend with Their Children, Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, April 2003

Mothers who spend more time working and away from their children experience more negative child outcomes, particularly behavioral problems. Confounding variables such as home environment did not decrease the significance of mothers presence. More recent research has expanded this to include older children. Age does not seem to mitigate the effects substantially.
Wen-Jui Han, Jane Waldfogel and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, The Effects of Early Maternal Employment on Later Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes, Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 63, No. 2 (May, 2001), pp. 336-354

Mothers are more knowledgeable about their adolescent childrens activities than fathers are. Mothers have more active supervision of their children than fathers and they converse more with them, especially about personal topics. Adolescents tend to converse more with their mothers on their own. It was found that mothers often passed this information on to their spouses, making fathers passively informed.
Robyn N. Waizenhofer and Christy M. Buchanan, Mothers and fathers knowledge of adolescents daily activities: Its sources and its links with adolescent adjustment, Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 18(2), 2004: 348-360

II. Instruction and Relationships

Mothers direct involvement with their childrens lives is positively related to adolescents friendships and peer experiences.
Updegraff, Kimberly; McHale, Susan; Crouter, Ann; Kupanoff, Kristina. Parents Involvement in Adolescents and Peer Relationships: A Comparison of Mothers and Fathers Roles. Journal of Marriage and the Family,Vol. 63, No. 3 Aug. 2001. pp. 655-668.

Due to increased sensory perception, women have a natural edge on men in childcare, in part because women tend to read emotions and facial expressions better, making them more empathetic and prone to emotional interaction.
Valenzona, Rosa. Motherhood and Dignity of Women. Republished with permission on. lifeissues.net, 2008. <http://www. lifeissues.net/writers/vale/vale_05motherhood.html>

increased levels of psychological stress and exhibit more negative school behavior and lower grades.
Alison L. Bryant and Marc Zimmerman, Role models and psychosocial outcomes among African-American adolescents Journal of Adolescent Research, Vol. 18(1), 2003: 36-67

Mothers tend to be more responsive to childrens skill when they have to do a novel task than fathers are. Mothers provide more information about the new task and have a more regulatory instruction style. Both parents are competent in instructing their children but were different in the way they responded to their childrens needs.
Mary Gauvain, Beverly Fagot, Craig Leve, and Kate Kavanagh, Instruction by mothers and fathers during problem solving with their young children. Journal of Family Psychology, Vol 16(1), Mar 2002, 81-90.

Behavioral scientists note that mothers tend to discipline their children differently from fathers. Mothers tend to respond with more emotion and emphasize the social/ relational consequences of bad behavior, pointing out the impact of behavior on others. Fathers, on the other hand, react less emotionally and emphasize the mechanical aspects of bad behavior by pointing out that a line has been crossed and that a particular act of discipline is the consequence.
Kyle D. Pruett, Fatherneed (New York: The Free Press, 2000) 32

The cognitive and emotional support of mothers is very important in helping a child develop self-regulatory behavior. When mothers give more information about problem solving to their children at an early age, the child seems to talk more often about what they are thinking and seek the monitoring of progress. The mothers emotional support contributes to children seeking more help in the classroom. If mothers encourage childrens autonomous behavior in problem solving, children will think that they are capable of performing a task and will then perform better in school.
Carin Neitzel and Anne Dopkins Stright, Mothers scaffolding of childrens problem solving: Establishing a foundation of academic self-regulatory competence, Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2003: 147-159

Mothers play a critical role in helping adolescent girls shape intentions to abstain from sexual activity. The study of African-American girls aged 11-14 years, found that maternal influence was more important than peer or paternal influence. Researchers found that middle school was an appropriate time for intervention and that parental involvement, particularly maternal involvement, should be part of such intervention in order to be successful.
Willa Doswell, Kim Yookyung, Betty Braxter, A Theoretical Model of Early Teen Sexual Behavior: What research tells us about mothers influence on the sexual behavior of early adolescent girls, Journal of Theory Construction and Testing, Vol. 7 (2), 2003: 56

III. Moral Formation

Mothers are the primary moral educators of their children. As the primary educators of gender identity for daughters, they also teach them an ethical style.
Deborah Orr, Mothers as Moral Educators: Teaching Language and Nurturing Souls in Mothers and Daughters, Eds. OReilly and Abbey (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000) 162163

Mothers have a strong, positive influence on helping adolescents refrain from sexual activity. Mothers who clearly communicate disapproval of sexual activity and who have a close relationship with their children are an important factor in adolescents delaying the initiation of sexual intercourse.
Renee E. Sieving and Clea S. McNeely, Maternal Expectations, Mother-Child Connectedness, and Adolescent Sexual Debut, Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, Vol. 154, August 2000: 809-817

African-American adolescent girls who are able to look to their mother as a female role model have the most positive outcomes in psychological well-being. Conversely, young girls who are not able to look to their mother or other female as a positive role model suffer

Mothers play a significant role in their childrens education and occupation choices. Most notably, mothers encourage children to pursue liberal arts and non-technical degrees leading to public service occupations, such as public health. Fathers, on the other hand, encourage children to pursue technical degrees, pushing them in the direction of science and engineering occupations.
Jacqueline Simpson, Mom matters: maternal influence on the choice of academic major, Sex Roles, Vol. 48 Nos. 9/10, May 2003: 447-459

BeWare oF False equIvalents: MarrIed Parents are Ideal

oth sexes are needed to raise the child, because the female is better designed for nurture and the male for protection and discipline; both are needed to teach the child, because every young one needs a model of his own sex as well as the other.
J. Budziszewski, What We Cant Not Know (Dallas: Spence Publishing, 2003) 36

There is substantial evidence that experience in a stepfamily or single-parent family in preadolescence is associated with a substantially higher risk of arrest, even after controlling for other key predictors not included together in previous studies. Children in stepfamilies or singlemother families at age 10 were more than twice as likely to be arrested by age 14 as children with two biological parents in residence.
Coughlin, Chris and Vuchinich, Samuel. Family Experience in Preadolescence and the Development of Male Delinquency, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 58, May 1996, pp. 491501

Although the differences between the groups are sometimes small, stepchildren are more similar to children living with single mothers than they are to children living with both biological parents.
M. Coleman, L. Ganong, and M. Fine Reinvestigating remarriage: Another decade of progress, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 62, 2000: 1288-1307

African-American boys with married parents have higher self-esteem than boys with unmarried parents, even when family income and family functioning (quality of familial relationships) are controlled.
Jelani Madara and Carolyn B. Murray, Effects of parental marital status, income, and family functioning on African American adolescent self-esteem, Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 14, No. 3, September 2000: 475-490

Studies indicate that children benefit from more frequent and more positive interactions with peers and higher levels of social acceptance when parents are involved in those relationships. Of all the studied family structures, only two biological parent households showed a significant relationship between family structure and the childs school engagement.
Updegraff, Kimberly; McHale, Susan; Crouter, Ann; Kupanoff, Kristina. Parents Involvement in Adolescents and Peer Relationships: A Comparison of Mothers and Fathers Roles. Journal of Marriage and the Family,Vol. 63, No. 3 Aug. 2001. pp. 655-668.

Married parent households help children economically. Studies show that across every race and ethnic group, children living in married couple households have the lowest poverty rates.
Terry Lugalia and Julie Overturf, Children and the Households They Live In: 2000, Census 2000 Special Report, U.S. Census Bureau, issued February, 2004: 16

Remarriage creates an incompletely institutionalized family form in which well-defined rules for family life are strikingly absent. In other words, from a sociological perspective, the position of stepfather is often a difficult one to take on. Both family structure and shared activities between fathers and their children are associated with childrens academic achievement, but fathers time does not appear to mediate the effects of family structure on childrens grades.
Cooksey, Elizabeth and Fondell, Michelle. Spending Time with His Kids: Effects of Family Structure on Fathers and Childrens Lives. Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol. 58 Aug. 1996, pp. 693-707.

Children raised by both biological parents are less likely to live in poverty or experience health problems, less likely to have behavioral or psychological problems, and more likely to graduate from high school.
Mary Parke, Are married parents really better for children? What research says about the effects of family structure on child well-being, Center for Law and Social Policy, May 2003, Brief No. 3; Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up With a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996) 45; Eric Dearing, Kathleen McCartney, and Beck A. Taylor, Change in family income to needs matters more for children with less, Child Development, Vol. 72, 2001: 1779-1793

Children born into households of first-time married parents are substantially less likely to face family instability in the future. Children born into cohabitating households are more likely to experience parental separation.

Wendy D. Manning, Pamela J. Smock. The Relative Stability of Cohabiting and Marital Unions for Children, and Debarun Majumdar Population Research and Policy Review Vol. 23, No. 2 (Apr., 2004), pp. 135-159 Published by: Springer in cooperation with the Southern Demographic Association

Parents who work together, share responsibility, and have reasonable authoritative attitudes have better child outcomes compared to every other parenting type, especially uninvolved parents.
Simons, Leslie Gordon; Conger, Rand D. Linking Mother-Father Differences in Parenting to a Typology of Family Parenting Styles and Adolescent Outcomes. Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 28 number 2. 2007 pp. 212-241

Married two-parent relationships, more than cohabitating stepfamilies and single parenthood, provide the best environments for child behavioral and emotional wellbeing. A child is likely to have better economic welfare and emotional stability with both married parents, which leads to improved academic performance and behavioral control.
Susan L. Brown, Family Structure and Child Well-Being: The Significance of Parental Cohabitation. Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 66, No. 2 (May, 2004), pp. 351-367

According to theories that hold two parents as optimal for the socialization of children, children of single parent families are the most at-risk for behavioral problems, maladjustment in adolescence, and lack of economic resources to avoid negative outcomes. The wealth of data collected on this subject supports this as the leading explanation for children.
Jennifer E. Lansford, Rosario Ceballo, Antonia Abbey and Abigail J. Stewart; Does Family Structure Matter? A Comparison of Adoptive, Two-Parent Biological, Single-Mother, Stepfather, and Stepmother Households, Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 63, No. 3 (Aug., 2001), pp. 840-851

Research clearly indicates that family structure and parents marital status are linked to a childs well-being. Although most children who are not raised by both biological parents are able to avoid serious problems, virtually all suffer at some level. Furthermore, studies indicate that even children in step-families do not fare as well as children from intact families. In short, it is not simply the presence of two parents, as some have assumed, but the presence of two biological parents that seems to support childrens development.
Kristin Anderson Moore, Susan M. Jekielek, and Carol Emig, Marriage from a childs perspective: How does family structure affect children, and what can we do about it? Child Trends Research Brief, June 2002: 1

Despite the probability of intra-family problems, parentchild conflict, and economic discord, children with two biological parents experience less developmental problems than children with more diverse family structures.
Jayson, Sharon. Kids better off in two-parent families. USA TODAY Sept. 13, 2005

Families with single mothers appeared to have the lowest achievement scores, as well as cognitive development of children according to a series of academic and cognitive tests.
Lisa A. Gennetian; One or Two Parents? Half or Step Siblings? The Effect of Family Structure on Young Childrens Achievement Journal of Population Economics Vol. 18, No. 3 (Sep., 2005), pp. 415-436

The father tends to be the missing parent in a childs life because of the legal system. Stepchildren and children with single parents did not achieve as well on average as children living with both biological parents in grades earned in school. There is also a substantial difference in dropout rates and graduation rates between children who were from step-families and children who grew up with both biological parents. Additionally, children who live with single parents or stepparents get less encouragement from their parents concerning academics than children who live with both biological parents. Finally, parents from step-families and single parent families dont monitor their childrens school work as much and as a result, the children are more disengaged with school.
Astone and McLanahan, Family Structure, Parental Practices and High School Completion, American Sociological Review, Vol. 56, 1991: 309-320

Families with two parents that assert rules, exercise judgment, and issue advice report the best adolescent outcomes. It has also been found that one authoritative parent of this nature can buffer a child in a sub-optimal family structure. Most moms and dads display the same style of parenting, reinforcing the likelihood of authoritative parenting effectiveness.

Children in single-parent families (usually single-mother families) are more likely than children with continuously married parents to experience a variety of cognitive, emotional and behavioral problems. Children born outside of marriage typically reach adulthood with less education, earn less income, have lower occupational status, and are more likely to be idle (not working or in school).
Paul R. Amato, The Impact of Family Formation Change on the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Well-Being of the Next Generation. The Future of Children Vol. 15, No. 2, Marriage and Child Wellbeing (Autumn, 2005), pp. 75-96 Princeton University

About Michigan Family Forum

Our Core Values
The family is the fundamental institution in a civil society. Healthy, lifelong marriages are beneficial to adults and offer the best environment in which to raise children and care for our elders. The involvement of responsible fathers is essential to the economic, emotional, and social health of our children. Our children need the protection of stable families and a healthy understanding of human sexuality. Our elders deserve to have security and care provided by loving family members in a comfortable home environment.

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Michigan Family Forum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and education organization, funded by taxdeductible donations and dedicated to strengthening families through sound public policy, education, and collaboration.