We need fathers...

Fathers are becoming a rare breed...

The evidence for the importance of traditional fatherhood is overwhelming. "Children who grow up in father-absent homes are more likely to suffer from child abuse, poverty, low academic achievement, drug use, emotional and behavioral problems, and suicide," according to a report from the influential National Fatherhood Initiative (from which most of the data in this column is drawn).

As anyone who has ever had a father — i.e., all of us — should know, a father's love is irreplaceable. Research shows that withdrawal of love by either the father or mother is equally important in predicting a child's well-being. So much for only mothers being the "nurturing ones." And nothing so endangers a child's reliably receiving the love of a father than family breakup.

Twenty years after a divorce, one-quarter of girls and less than a third of boys say they are close with their fathers. In contrast, 70 percent of children of intact families say they have close relationships with their fathers. Half of children living without their fathers have never been in their fathers' homes. In one study, only 27 percent of children older than 4 saw their nonresident father at least once a week in the past year, and 31 percent had no contact whatsoever.