The Importance of Fathers in Families

• Today there are approx 100M men in the US and Canada who are fathers or will be fathers in the next 5 years.
• Over 80% of US dads feel they need help on Fatherhood issues; 75% of those do not know where to get quality fatherhood help.
• There are dozens of fine US organizations (mostly very small non-profits) working in this area today, but most are local (such as churches) or policy based (such as the National Fatherhood Initiative).
• None, by themselves, is big enough or connected enough to 'move the cultural needle' on fatherhood - or even get close - in the face of the cultural forces pushing in the other direction.
• There is no over-arching cooperative strategy that might allow these organizations to multiply their impact through coordinated action.

Respect for Fatherhood in our Culture

• Respect for Fatherhood and the percentage of men who are actively involved Dads has declined steadily in the US over the past 50 years.
• Our society now constantly celebrates the rich, the powerful, the famous and the infamous... but never good fathers.
• Much of popular media minimizes or actively puts down Fatherhood (for example, the preponderance of “Doofus Dads” on TV these days).
• The importance of fathers, even the need for fathers, is now openly called into question in certain American sub-cultures.
• As a direct result, many men now choose to skip fatherhood altogether, either by not marrying, not having kids or not parenting their kids.
• As a direct result of that, over half of the American children born today will live some or most of their lives as minors without their fathers.
• As a direct result of that, America is quickly becoming a two tier society, with over 1/3 of our children consigned to almost 3rd world status in terms of mental and physical health, academic attainment, and income.

The Social Decline of Strong Parenting

• 41% of US births in 2010 were out of wedlock (In 1940 that number was 3.8%).
• The percentage of children born to unmarried moms has more than doubled for each major racial group since 1960. Over 70% of African American kids will be born out of wedlock this year.
• Children born out of wedlock in the US are two to three times more likely:
  • To be convicted of a felony
  • To suffer from severe emotional illness
  • To have children out of wedlock
  • To fail to graduate from High School
  • To ever hold down a long-term job
  • To live in poverty
  • To die a violent death
  • To be functionally illiterate
  • The list goes on and on...