In 1998, 26 percent of all families with children less than 18 years of age were maintained by single mothers, resulting in almost 10 million families (9.82 million) without fathers.  This represents an increase of 57 percent from 1980, in which there were 6.23 million fatherless families, accounting for 19 percent of all families.

(Source: U. S. Census Bureau, "Current Population Reports, p20-515," and earlier reports; and unpublished data, in U. S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1999 [119th edition] Washington, DC, 1999, p. 64.)

The January/February 2001 edition of Touchstone, a special 84-page issue, focuses on the controversial themes of fatherhood in American society, and the Fatherhood of the Christian God. Leading fatherhood scholars, including Paul Vitz, David Blankenhorn, Leon Podles, and John Haas, among others, contribute essays in an original discussion of divine and human fatherhood.

In his essay, David Blankenhorn, author of Fatherless America (Basic Books), goes beyond the "foliage"--the observable, negative effects of fatherlessness--and examines the "roots" of the problem:

"For it appears to me, based on this evidence, that the human child is 'meant' or intended for something called fatherhood: a fatherhood that is knowable, even to very young children who have never personally known it; a fatherhood that is larger than the actual biological father in question; and indeed, a fatherhood that appears to have little to do with whether the 'real' father is absent or present, loving or neglectful, nurturing or abusive. My suspicion is that these facts add up to a sign of transcendence, or what Peter Berger calls a 'rumor of angels': an indicator from everyday life suggesting that the relationship between father and child points to something larger than itself, something that probably can be conceived of only in spiritual terms, as part of our intrinsic connectedness to one another and to God."

Single or multiple copies of this special Touchstone issue can be ordered at: http://www.touchstonemag.com/docs/navigation_docs/products_fathers_house.htmlor by calling toll-free: 877-375-7373.

(Source: David Blankenhorn, "Fatherhood Uprooted: A Sociologist Looks at Fatherlessness and its Causes," Touchstone, Vol. 14, No. 1 [January/February 2001]: 20-25.)

Rare is the social-science journal article that begins with an author writing appreciatively of "my exhausted father putting on the wrong pants to go to his second job as a night merchandise stocker at a department store" in order "to provide Christmas to his family."

Writing in the Journal of Family Issues, Shawn L. Christiansen of Central Washington University and Rob Palkovitz of the University of Delaware, authors of this grateful reminiscence (they never say whether the exhausted father was Mr. Christiansen or Mr. Palkovitz), note that images of "hardworking fathers caring for their children through economic provision are rare in contemporary fatherhood literature." Instead, that literature is dominated by (ideally) nurturing fathers lavishing attention upon their children.

The authors set out to reclaim "economic provision" as a significant form of paternal involvement. Provision is often taken for granted, they argue, or viewed as a mere baseline. Much as a mother's work within the home is "invisible"--that is, performed in private for something greater than simple wages--so is a father's work often invisible: He usually works away from home, and the income earned by his labor shows up as food, clothing, a bed to sleep on and a roof to sleep under. There is no "direct understanding or acknowledgment that the receipt of the goods is a result of the labor of the provider."

When provision is considered by social scientists, it is often viewed as at best a necessary evil, for it may compete with other forms of paternal involvement. In popular culture, the "good provider" long ago became a figure of ridicule: he is "distant, strict, harsh, authoritarian, bumbling, and incompetent": a cross between the Great Santini and Dagwood Bumstead.

Yet Christiansen and Palkovitz survey a lesser-known fatherhood literature that views breadwinning as "active, responsible, emotionally invested, demanding, expressive, and measur[ing] real devotion." For instance, in his study of middle-income black fathers, N.A. Cazenave found that his subjects ranked "provider" as the most important role a father can play. Cazenave's fathers "saw providing not as an escape from involvement but as a way to invest in their families." Indeed, others have found that providing is central to a father's identity: the inability to provide leads to a withdrawal from family life.

For many fathers, the authors assert, "providing is more than earning the money to put bread on the table--the process of earning the money to buy the bread is about being a good father, and it is the father's unspoken way of taking responsibility and showing care." Providing entails sacrifice, and may be an expression of love itself.

Christiansen and Palkovitz quote one unemployed father: "My wife has known nothing but debt and poverty ever since we've been married. I know I ought to feel glad, being able to spend so much time with my kids while they're young. But what can I give them? I just feel empty. I'm ashamed I can't provide them with everything they need. What kind of father is that?"

The desire to provide runs deep.  While provision may become an excuse to elevate career over family in some instances, the authors discern a "consistent pattern" in the paternal-involvement literature: namely, "fathers who provide are involved in many aspects of their children's lives; fathers who do not provide disengage from involvement with their children."

(Source: Shawn L. Christiansen and Rob Palkovitz, "Why the 'Good Provider' Role Still Matters," Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 22, No. 1 [January 2001]: 84-106.)