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More men becoming single dads

WASHINGTON -- The number of single fathers with children at home has increased by 25 percent in the past three years, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday, reflecting a rising acceptance by courts and society that men can be effective parents on their own.

Experts cited several reasons for the emerging trend. One is a rising tendency of men to seek custody, and for mothers and judges to agree, even when the couple has not been married. Another is the increased willingness of adoption agencies to consider single people, gay and straight, as parents.

``It's quite amazing,'' said Lynne Casper, a Census Bureau demographer who co-wrote the new report. ``It points to the fact that maybe the last bastion of the division of the sexes is breaking down.''

In 1970, fathers accounted for only about one in 10 single parents. In 1998, it's one in six. In the past three years, the number of single-parent families headed by fathers has grown from 1.7 million to 2.1 million. There currently are 9.8 million mothers in the single-parent role.

Overall, single-parent families have increased in number in the past three years and now account for 27 percent of all families with children, according to the new census report.

Research has found that children raised by single parents -- male or female -- are more at risk for dropping out of school, getting into trouble with the law or suffering emotional problems. Little research has been done to look at differences between children raised by single moms and single dads.

But statistics suggest that single fathers enjoy some important advantages over single mothers. They have higher incomes, on average. They are more likely to have someone else in the house helping with -- or providing -- child care, such as a mother, girlfriend or sister, census figures show.

The new census figures also show that a rising share of single fathers taking care of their children never married -- 35 percent. (Among single mothers, it's already a majority.) Among fathers of children under 6, it's a majority.

U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/cb98-228.html

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