Fatherlessness In The National Capital Region

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Fatherhood is foundational to strong families, and strong families are essential to a strong nation. An absent father affects all aspects of a child’s life, from socio-cognitive and socio-emotional development to academic performance and criminality. Unfortunately, the effects of fatherlessness are especially visible in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

Fatherlessness in the united StateS

• Approximately 18.4 million children in the United States live without a biological father, stepfather, or adoptive father present in the home.
• 23% of children in the United States are raised by a single parent. This is more than three times the world average (7%) of children raised by a single parent, and the highest rate of any country on Earth.
• Approximately 41% of children are born to unwed mothers. For women under age 30, the unwed birth rate increases to 53%.
• Fathers are absent in approximately 80% of single-parent homes.
• Fatherless children are more likely to suffer from psychosocial development issues, live in poverty, drop out of school, engage in school violence, abuse substances, and enter the juvenile justice system.

CHILD OUTCOMES IN MARYLAND

• According to the Baltimore City Health Department, 58% of the city’s children live in single-parent households.
• As of 2019, roughly 191,342 Maryland children live with a single mother.
• In 2020, Maryland had 27,940 births to unmarried mothers or about 41% of all births.
• 41% of Baltimore’s public high school students earn below a 1.0-grade point average.
• In Baltimore City Public Schools, only 15% of high school students test at or above the proficient level for reading, and only 8% test at or above that level for math.
• As of 2019, there was 68,000 youth aged 16-24 not attending school or working in the state of Maryland, or about 10% of the total.

CHILD OUTCOMES IN VIRGINIA

• About 553,000 children in Virginia live in single-parent households or 32% of all Virginia’s children.
  • Around 60% of all Black children, 22% of all white children, and 37% of all Latino live in single-parent homes in Virginia.
• Roughly 83,000 teens and young adults in Virginia are not working or attending school.
• Virginia has 4,773 children in foster care.
• There are 918 juveniles in correctional facilities in Virginia, for a rate of 109 per 100,000.

CHILD OUTCOMES IN WASHINGTON D.C.

• Roughly 63,000 children in D.C. live in single-parent families, for 53% of all children.
• 77% of Black births in D.C. are to unmarried mothers, as are 55% of all Hispanic births.
• 83% of D.C. teenagers aged 15 to 17 were raised in a non-intact family.
• One out of three high school students in D.C. public schools drop out of school, including 40% of low-income students.