Honor Thy Children

The U.S. News and World Report article ("Honor Thy children," 2/27/95) states: "Rich or poor, white or black, the children of divorce and those born outside of marriage struggle through life at a measurable disadvantage, according to a growing chorus of social thinkers. And their voices are more urgent because an astonishing 38% of all children now live without their biological fathers&md;up from 17.5% in 1960. More than half of today's children will spend at least part of their childhood without a father... Some 46% of families with children headed by single mothers live below the poverty line, compared to 8% of those with two parents. Raising marriage rates will do far more to fight crime than building prisons or putting more cops on the streets. Studies show that only 43% of state prison inmates grew up with both parents and that a missing father is a better predictor of criminal activity than race or poverty. Growing up with both parents turns out to be a better antidote to teen pregnancy than handing out condoms...Social scientists have made similar links between a father's absence and his child's likelihood of being a dropout, jobless, a drug addict, a suicide victim, mentally ill, and a target of child sexual abuse."