Father Presence and Educational Attainment: Dad as a Catalyst for High School Graduations.

For father-watchers, the beginning years of the 21st century present an intriguing interval. Across the globe, two very different views of the father are being placed in direct competition with each other in the marketplace of ideas, and, thereby, are in competition for socio-cultural viability. One view of the father places him as optional or supernumerary within the family structure. This view would imply that fatherless children, either through divorce or out-of-wedlock births, do not face deficits when compared to children who grow to maturity with an on-going, residential social & biological father. Countries which have incorporated this view (wherein at least 25% of the children are born out-of-wedlock) include, among others, the U.S., Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mexico, Costa Rica (UNESCO, 1994; United Nations, 1992, 1995. 2000; Central Intelligence Agency 2002). The second view assumes the father to be integral to the family unit and instrumental in the normative, if not optimal, development of their children. Hence, in such countries, both divorce (father abrasion) and out-of-wedlock births (father preclusion) are minimized. Examples of such countries include, among others, Tunisia, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, (South) Korea, Ireland, Poland, Bulgaria, and Spain (UNESCO, 1994; United Nations, 1992, 1995; 2000; Central Intelligence Agency 2002). This article surveys one aspect of the American child's life-space trajectory--the attainment of a high-school diploma--and how the presence or absence of a father may affect the probability of that child attaining the diploma or becoming a high school dropout. Hypothesis Within the framework of shifting cultural expectations and demographic trends, the question can be asked: Is there a relationship between fatherlessness and the attainment of a high school diploma? Method The National Center for Education Statistics (2001) provided data on high school completion rates (in percentages), by state, for the interval 1998-2000. The National Center for Education Statistics notes that the high school completion rates represent the percentage of 18 through 24-year olds, not currently enrolled in high school or below, who have completed a high school diploma or an equivalent credential, including a General Educational Development (GED) credential. The U.S. Bureau of the Census gathers data, by state, on (i) divorce, and (ii) out-of-wedlock births and, thereby allows the inter-relationships among the variables to be assayed. The rate of male unemployment (percent of the male labor force unemployed) can also be surveyed across states plus the District of Columbia. This variable was included in the analysis to help control for any co-variations with privation. Accordingly, the high school completion rates were surveyed across states plus the District of Columbia as were the divorce rates (number of divorces per 1,000 population).and the level of out-of-wedlock births (percentage of all live births which were out-of-wedlock). Note that 1999 and 2000 figures were male unemployment. Similar figures were not available for 1998, so the combined male & female unemployment rates were used. To find any potential generational effects upon 1998-2000 high school completion rates, similar data on out-of-wedlock births, divorce and unemployment, were also surveyed from 1980 and 1985 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1981-2002). Even though states are a coarsely grained filter through which to analyze social phenomena (and thereby increase the chances of finding false negatives), there seemed to be sufficient variability across states to suggest that patterns may be able to be recognized, i.e. the noise in the system would not overwhelm any signals in the system. (1) And, if signals were to be found, their potency may not be trivial, and, as illustrated below, patterns--signals--were found. The national mean for high school completion rates for 1998-2000 was 87. …