By Susan Maki

The origins of Father’s Day began in Spokane, Washington when a woman, Mrs. John Dobbs, decided to campaign for a day to honor her father, William Smart. Mrs. Dobbs was one of six children in a family raised by a single father after the death of her mother during childbirth. The first Father’s Day celebration was in June 1910 – the birthday month of William Smart. Mrs. Dobbs proposal to honor her single dad’s hard work is more fitting than ever for our increasing single-father families 100 years later.

The number of single fathers raising children without a mother nearly doubled between 1990 and 2006, from 1.15 million to 2.1 million or 20% of all single-parent families according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Of single fathers, 42 percent are divorced; 38 percent were never married; 15 percent are separated; and 5 percent were widowed.  Researchers at the University of Wisconsin identified that of single-father families, 18% live in poverty.  Although this is still far below single female-headed families, a continuing trend is quieting emerging in family structure. The broader societal change of granting parental custody to fathers and seeing men as caregivers has contributed to the change with the overwhelming majority of states now having a best-interest-of-the-child standard. Typically single fathers have the financial advantage over single-mother families, but the number of poorer, never-married fathers taking custody of children is rising.

Whether it is a male- or female-headed household, they are both economically more vulnerable for the simple reason of having only one wage earner. These days many wage earners are struggling with unemployment and falling into the category of the “working poor”. The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines “working poor” as having spent a majority of the past year in the labor force, but still living below the family poverty level.  Most single parents work full time jobs, but one-third of single-mother households and 18% of single-father households remain in poverty. We are all well aware of the deadbeat dad stories that dominate child support issues. With the increase in father-headed households comes a rise in non-custodial mothers not paying child support as well. In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau states: “On average, non-custodial mothers are much less likely to be ordered to pay child support than are non-custodial fathers, and, when they are, the amount they’re ordered to pay is about 13.4% less. But they still pay a smaller percentage than do fathers and are less likely to pay the full amount owed”.

For additional reading on single fathers and their challenges go to:

• More and More Single Dads
• Welfare Dads
• Low-income Single Dads Motivated as Parents
• Single Dads – Then & Now

Photo by Apple Blossom Photography

No comments yet.

Leave a comment