About 40% of U. S. children will go to sleep in homes in which their fathers do not live. Over 50% of our nation's children are likely to spend a significant portion of childhood living apart from their
fathers. Never before in this country have so many children been torn away from their fathers. Never before have so many children grown up without knowing what it means to have a father. Wade Horn,  National Fatherhood Initiative, recently identified the top ten father facts.

An estimated 24.7 million children (36.3%) live absent their biological father.

There are almost 17 million children (25%) living with their single  mothers.

1.25 million or 32% of all births in 1995 were out-of-wedlock. Today nearly 4 out of 10 first marriages end in divorce, 60% of  divorcing couples have children, and over one million children each year experience the divorce of their parents.

One out of every six children is a stepchild.

There are nearly 1.9 million single fathers with children under 18.

4 out every 10 cohabiting couples have children present and of children born to cohabiting couples, only 4 out of 10 will see their parents marry. Those who do marry experience a 50% higher divorce rate.

About 40% of the children who live in fatherless households haven't seen their fathers in at least a year while 50% of children who don't live with their fathers have never stepped foot in their father's home.

Children who live absent their biological fathers, on average, are more likely to be poor, experience educational, health, emotional, and psychological problems, be victims of child abuse, and engage in criminal behavior than their peers who live with their married, biological mother and father.

Numerous investigators have examined the important role a father plays in his child's cognitive development. A positive relationship has been found between the amount of social stimulation (rocking, talking, looking, touching) and an infant's level of mental ability. In addition, research findings suggest that a father's presence
affects the cognitive development of his son in early infancy; baby boys whose fathers live with them score higher on cognitive measures than baby boys whose fathers are absent. The amount of interaction between a baby boy and his live-in father also affects the infant's intellectual growth; more frequent contact is associated with higher scores on cognitive development scales.

Research further indicates that a father's availability, as well as a father's presence or absence, affects older children's academic performance. In a study of third-grade boys, Blanchard and Biller (1971) concluded, "underachievers, who were working below grade level, came from homes where the father had left before the child was 5. The superior academic performers were the boys whose fathers were present and highly available." A survey of over 20,000 parents found when fathers are involved in their children's education including attending meetings and volunteering, children were more likely to receive an A, enjoy school, participate in extracurricular  activities, and less likely to be retained.

The country is in deep trouble when people who have sworn an oath to protect its fundamental laws, and are placed in positions of trust and power, conspire against it.  They must be forced to recognize the fact that the non-custodial parents of this great Nation are banding together, we will fight the corruption and injustice.

Doug Henson