Fathers and their families

Fathers and Their Families
INTRODUCTION
Attention Getter: In contemporary America, the composition of nuclear family is fast coming to extinction with soaring divorce cases and single motherhood. In 2013, the U. S. Bureau Census revealed that there were 12 million single families, of which single mothers headed over 80 percent of the families (Dawn, 2014). Children need both mother and father as they develop from childhood into adulthood. So, what really happens when the father is not at home? Did you know that children brought up in complete families suffer less psychological traumas compared to their counterparts from single motherhood families?
Purpose: To inform the audience about what happens to the family when fathers are not at home.
Importance to Audience: Everyone is destined to be a parent and it is crucial to know how the absence of fathers from homes affects families so that they can mitigate adverse impacts of such absence in future.
Thesis Statement: Absence of fathers from homes and rising cases of single motherhood is one of the most critical factors affecting the American society in recent times.
Preview: I will discuss what happens to the family when fathers are not in the home.
To begin with, I will discuss effect on the overall family when fathers are away from home.
BODY
I. Absence of father from home affects families’ social and economic welfare (Peterson, 2014).
a) When fathers are not at home, the economic welfare of the family is adversely affected because mothers bear all the family financial burdens.
b) Fathers are usually a sense of security to their families, thus their absence exposes the family to potential risks of abuse among others.
c) Fathers’ absence from the family breaks down the smallest unit of a family thus jeopardizes its functioning.
Now that I have looked at the overall family welfare when fathers are away from home, I will proceed to discuss what happens to children when their fathers are not at home.
II. Fathers’ absence from the family negatively affects the development and welfare of children
a) Children from families with more concerned and caring fathers encounter fewer behavioral challenges than their counterparts from fatherless families (Howard et al., 2006).
b) Girl child usually needs the father for proper psychological development and absence of the father from home for a few hours or permanently servers the connection girls have with their fathers.
c) Children are more likely to engage in early drug and substance abuse when their fathers are not at home.
d) Children are most likely to involve in early irresponsible sexual activities when fathers are away from home.
e) Children are more exposed to child abuse by single mothers.
f) Children will lead stressful lives from early ages, thus develop psychological problems.
g) Children from fatherless homes tend to perform poorly in school compare with their peers from complete families.
Conclusion
In conclusion, today, I have covered what happens to the family when fathers are away at home, which include weakened social and economic strength as well as disturbed child development. When fathers are away from home, either for a short duration or permanently, their families are often adversely affected. The rising cases of single motherhood in the society need urgent attention for the benefit of the children and the overall society.
References
Dawn. (2014). Single Mother Statistics. Retrieved on November 18, 2014 from https://singlemotherguide. com/single-mother-statistics/#footnote_2_13
Howard, K. S., Lefever, J. E. B., Borkowski, J. G., & Whitman, T. L. (2006). Fathers’ influence in the lives of children with adolescent mothers. Journal of Family Psychology, 2, 468- 476.
Peterson, H. B. (2014). The father’s duty to foster the welfare of his family. Retrieved from https://www. lds. org/general-conference/print/1977/10/the-fathers-duty-to-foster-the-welfare-of-his-family? lang= eng