The evangelistic newspaper of the modern Jesus Army
2011
WHERE'S DAD?
Shocking new statistics reveal the effects of absent dads on our kids
Fifteen per cent of UK babies are born into homes with no resident dad. Half of them have no registered father on their birth certificate.
Family breakdown affects many more children, spearheaded by rising numbers of unmarried parents. By a child's fifth birthday, a shocking 43 per cent of cohabiting parents have separated. In the vast majority of split families, children stay with their mother.
The consequences of fatherlessness for children can be serious. According to statistics from UK think tank, The Centre for Social Justice, children who grow up without fathers are: 75 per cent more likely to fail at school; 70 per cent more likely to be drug addicts; 50 per cent more likely to develop an alcohol problem; 40 per cent more likely to have serious debt problems; and 35 per cent more likely to be unemployed.
So, not good.
Why is a father so important in a person's development? Of course, mothers are vital. Usually mum is, to use the sociologists' phrase, the "primary carer" in a child's life. Is the importance of dad sometimes overlooked because he is the "secondary carer"?
"Secondary" doesn't mean "unnecessary".
Radio presenter, Jonathan Bellamy, commented recently: "The single most destructive effect on how many of our young people have been brought up is that they have been fatherless.
"The effect of fatherlessness is not just to be seen in violent behaviour, it is not just revealed in the absence of respect for the authority of our Police, it is not just expressed through mindless vandalism; the darkness also shouts loud in our teenage binge culture, addictions, abortions, STDs, eating disorders, self harm, knife crime, suicides."
The Jesus Army, along with others, want to play their part in fathering a fatherless generation, and building a better, less broken, Britain.
