Responsible 

Fatherhood 

Spotlight 

November 2008 

Take Time to Be a Dad Today 

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Single Father Custodial Families 

The percentage of families headed by single fathers increased from 1.1 percent in 1970 to 3.2 percent in 

2004. Existing research suggests that fathers and children in single-father families interact differently than 

do fathers and children in other family arrangements, and these unique interactions are likely to matter for 

children’s and fathers’ well-being. 

Definition 

Single-father custodial families are families in which children live with their fathers but not with their 

mothers. Single fathers include men who are separated, divorced, widowed, or never married.i

 A related 

term, custodial- father families, usually refers to families in which fathers have gained custody of children 

after a divorce or legal separation.ii

Importance and Implications of Single Fatherhood 

Implications for Fathers 

• Custodial fathers exhibit lower levels of anxiety and depression than do noncustodial fathers and 

have similar levels of adjustment as married fathers.iii

 

• Men who choose the role of single father have better adjustment than do single fathers who do 

not choose the role (fathers who feel forced into the role).iv

• However, custodial fathers are more hostile towards their ex-spouses than are custodial mothers 

or fathers with shared custody.v

 

Implications for Fathers’ Involvement with Children 

• In general, single fathers provide healthy and supportive environments for their children and try to 

meet their children’s emotional needs.vi

• Research has shown that single fathers spend more time with their children than do fathers in any 

other family structure, including fathers in families headed by two married parents.vii

o Single fathers spend significantly more time than do married fathers interacting with their 

children in activities such as reading, going on outings, eating breakfast together, and 

helping with homework.viii

o Single fathers are more likely than are married fathers to participate in traditionally 

mother-led activities, such as shopping with children and talking about children’s 

problems.ix

o Single fathers also use more positive parenting practices than do married fathers.x

o Compared with fathers in two-parent families, single fathers are more likely to be highly 

involved in their children’s schooling.xi

o Single fathers report having less strict rules for their children than do fathers in two-parent 

families.xii

• Single fathers also have different patterns of involvement than do single mothers. 

o Single fathers are generally less involved in their children’s lives than are single mothers, 

and single fathers report lower levels of supervision, monitoring, and closeness to their 

children than do single mothers.xiii
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o However, other findings show that single fathers are less permissive than are single 

mothers.xiv

o Single fathers are involved in their children’s schooling at about the same level as are 

single mothers.xv

Implications for Children 

• Compared with children in all other family structures, those in single-father households are at the 

highest risk of alcohol consumption, marijuana use, illicit drug use, problematic drug use,xvi and 

delinquent behavior.xvii

• Children raised in single-father households generally have poorer outcomes than do children 

raised in two-parent households. 

o Children who grow up in single-father households are less likely to graduate from high 

schoolxviii and are more likely to have lower test scores than are children who grow up in 

two-parent households.xix These children are also less likely than are children in twoparent households to get mostly A’s and are more likely to have ever repeated a grade or 

been expelled or suspended. xx 

-- However, a high level of father involvement in the child’s school increases the 

likelihood that the child gets mostly A’s and reduces the likelihood that the child has been 

suspended or expelled.xxi

o Children in single-father households are more likely than are children in two-parent 

families to have smoked marijuana or to have engaged in sexual intercourse.xxii These 

children have higher levels of externalizing behaviors (such as acting jealous, lying, 

cheating, and destroying things)xxiii and a higher risk of substance abuse.xxiv

--Some of these associations, though, may disappear when involvement and positive 

parenting practices are considered.xxv

o However, children living in single-father households have similar mental health and better 

physical health than do children living in two-parent households.xxvi

• Overall, single-father households appear to be just as positive for children as single-mother 

households.xxvii

o On some outcomes, children in single-father families resemble or outperform children in 

single-mother families. 

--For example, custodial fathers report similar or better child behavior than do 

custodial mothers.xxviii

--Children in single-father and single-mother households perform similarly in 

schoolxxix and do not differ on measures of self-perception, such as attitudes about 

their self-worth, athletic ability, and popularity.xxx

--Additionally, youth from single-father and single-mother households have similar 

likelihoods of having a premarital birth, a teenage marriage, a teenage birth, and 

experiencing the breakup of a marriage.xxxi

o On other outcomes, children in single-father families perform more poorly than do 

children in single-mother families. 

--Compared with adolescents in custodial-mother households, those in custodialfather households have poorer adjustment after divorce, engage in more deviant 

behavior, and are less close to their resident parent.xxxii

--Adolescents in single-father households also put less effort into their 

schoolwork,xxxiii are at greater risk of substance abuse,xxxiv and are more likely to 

have recently used alcoholxxxv than are those in single-mother households. 

• Effects of living in a single-father household sometimes vary by gender and race. 

o Adolescent sons living in custodial-father households have lower rates of delinquency 

than do those living in custodial- mother households, but adolescent daughters show the 

reverse pattern.xxxvi

o Girls raised in single-father households show higher levels of anxietyxxxvii and a higher 

likelihood of delinquent behaviorxxxviii than are those raised in single-mother households.
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o Latinos in single-father households are more likely to use marijuana than are Latinos in 

single-mother households.xxxix

Overall Trends in Single Fatherhood 

Figure 1 shows that the number of children living only with their fathers has risen over the past several 

decades. In 2004, 2.4 million children under the age of 18, or about 3.2 percent of all American children, 

were living with single fathers. In 1960, that proportion was 1.3 percent, representing approximately 850 

thousand children. 

Figure 1: Children Living in Single-Father Families 

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

1960 1970 1980 1990 1996 2001 2004

Year

Percentage of Children

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 

Differences in Single Fatherhood by Subgroup 

The following estimates are for adolescents who lived with single custodial fathers in 2001. 

Single Fatherhood by Socioeconomic Status 

Figure 2 shows that nearly one-quarter (23.1 percent) of single-father families lived below the federal 

poverty line in 2001. Table 1 shows that this percentage was significantly higher than the percentage of 

two-parent households below the poverty line (15.8 percent), but was significantly lower than the 

percentage of other types of families (38.1 percent) living below the federal poverty line. 

Figure 2: Socioeconomic Status of Single-Father Families 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Below 100% of the poverty line At or above 100% of the poverty line

Percent of the Federal Poverty Line

Percent

Source: Child Trends’ analysis of NLSY97 data 
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Table 1: Socioeconomic Status of Single-Father Families and Other Family Structures 

Poverty Status SingleFather 

Family 

Biological 

TwoParent 

Family 

SingleMother 

Family 

Other 

Family 

Structure 

Below the federal 

poverty line 23.1% 15.8%a 50.2% 38.1%a

At or above the federal 

poverty line 76.9% 84.2%a 49.8% 62.9%a

Source: Child Trends’ analysis of NLSY97 data 

a=significantly different from single-father family 

Single Fatherhood by Race 

As shown in Figure 3, in 2001, approximately one-half of children in single-father households (47.5 

percent) were non-Hispanic White and nearly one- third (31 percent) of children in single-father 

households were non-Hispanic Black. Almost 14 percent (14.6 percent) were Hispanic, and 6 percent 

were of another race/ethnicity. 

Table 2 shows that children in single-father families were significantly more likely to be non-Hispanic 

Black than were children in two-parent families. 

Figure 3: Race/Ethnicity of Children in Single-Father Families 

0

10

20

30

40

50

Non-Hispanic

White

Non-Hispanic Black Hispanic Other

Race/Ethnicity

Child's Race/Ethnicity

Race

Source: Child Trends’ analysis of NLSY97 data 

Table 2: Race/Ethnicity of Children in Single-Father Families and Other Family Structures 

Child’s 

Race/Ethnicity 

SingleFather 

Family 

Biological 

TwoParent 

Family 

SingleMother 

Family 

Other 

Family 

Structure 

Non-Hispanic White 47.5% 52.1% 23.9% 37.3%a

Non-Hispanic Black 31.0% 18.8%a 52.7% 35.9%a

Hispanic 14.6% 26.3% 22.1% 24.4% 

Other Race/Ethnicity 6.0% 2.6% 1.2% 2.2% 

Source: Child Trends’ analysis of NLSY97 data 

a=significantly different from single-father family 
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Single Fatherhood by Parents’ Education 

Figure 4 shows that in 2001, 18.2 percent of fathers in single-father families had less than a high school 

education, 39.1 percent had completed high school, 23.7 percent had completed at least some college, 

and 19 percent had earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. Figure 5 shows that fathers in single-father 

families report significantly higher educational attainment than did parents in single-mother families or in 

other family structures. 

Figure 4: Educational Attainment of Fathers in Single-Father Families 

0

10

20

30

40

50

Less than High

School

High School Degree Some College 4-Year College or

More

Years of Education

Percentage

Source: Child Trends’ analysis of NLSY97 data 

Figure 5: Educational Attainment of Fathers in Single-Father Families and Other Family Structures 

11

11.5

12

12.5

13

Single-Father

Family

Biological

Two-Parent

Family

SingleMother

Family

Other Family

Structure

Family Structure

Mean Years of Education

Source: Child Trends’ analysis of NLSY97 data 

Definitions and Measurement 

For data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau, single-father families consist of all family groups in which 

children under the age of 18 live with their father but not with their mother. For the NLSY97, single-father 

families are those families for which respondents consistently reported living only with their father in 

waves 3, 4, and 5 (1999-2001). 

Data Sources 

Data documenting overall trends in single fatherhood were collected and reported by U.S. Census Bureau 

through the Survey of Program Participation. Additional data on single-father families were gathered from 

the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (NLSY97). The NLSY97 is a longitudinal survey 

designed to document the transition from school to work and into adulthood.xl The NLSY97 originally 
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surveyed approximately 9,000 youths who were 12-16 years old in 1997, and participants are reinterviewed annually. 

Data Limitations 

Detailed information about fathers’ age and race is not collected in the NLSY97; these data are only 

collected on the children themselves. Therefore, we cannot present analyses showing the prevalence of 

single fatherhood by these categories. Additionally, because the measure of educational attainment used 

in our analyses is that of the resident father, and because there is no resident father in single-mother 

households, we use mother’s educational attainment as a comparison for this family structure only. 

Resources 

• The Single Father Family: Recent Trends in Demographic, Economic, and Public Transfer 

Use Characteristics provides information on the characteristics of single-father families: 

http://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-1996_01_01_SP_SingleFatherFamily.pdf

• Fathers’ and Mothers’ Involvement in their Children’s Schools by Family Type and 

Resident Status compares involvement of mothers and fathers in different family structures, 

including single-father families: http://www.nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001032.pdf

• The National Center for Fathering includes information and tips for fathers and includes a 

section devoted specifically to single fathers: http://fathers.com/
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References 

 

i

 Brown, B.V. (1996). The single father family: Recent trends in demographic, economic, and public transfer use characteristics.

Washington, DC: Child Trends. 

ii Guttmann, J., & Lazar, A. (1998). Mother’s or father’s custody: Does it matter for social adjustment? Educational Psychology, 

18(2), 225-234; Cohen, O., & Savaya, R. (2000). Help wanted and help received by Israeli divorced custodial fathers. Journal of 

Applied Social Psychology, 30(7), 1440-1456. iii Stewart, J.R., Schwebel, A.I., & Fine, M.A. (1986). The impact of custodial arrangement on the adjustment of recently divorced

fathers. Journal of Divorce, 9(3), 55-65. iv Greif, G.L. (1995). Single fathers with custody following separation and divorce. Marriage & Family Review, 20(1-2), 213-231. v

 Buchanan, C.M., Maccoby, E.E., & Dornbusch, S.M. (1992). Adolescents and their families after divorce: Three residential 

arrangements compared. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 2, 261-291. vi Downey, D.B., & Powell, B. (1993). Do children in single-parent households fare better living with same-sex parents? Journal of 

Marriage and the Family, 55(1), 55-71; Orthner, D.K., Brown, T., & Ferguson, D. (1976). Single-parent fatherhood: An emerging 

family life style. Family Coordinator, 25(4), 429-437; Smith, R.M., & Smith, C.W. (1981). Child rearing and single-parent fathers. 

Family Relations, 30(3), 411-417; Hilton, J.M., & Devall, E.L. (1998). Comparison of parenting and children's behavior in singlemother, single-father, and intact families. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 29, 23-54 vii Cooksey, E.C., & Fondell, M.M. (1996). Spending time with his kids: Effects of family structure on fathers’ and children’s lives. 

Journal of Marriage and Family, 58(3), 693-707. viii Cooksey & Fondell, 1996; Thompson, E., McLanahan, S.S., & Curtin, R.B. (1992). Family structure, gender, and parental 

socialization. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54(2), 368-378; U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education 

Statistics (1997). Fathers’ involvement in their children’s schools (NCES 98-091). Washington, DC: Author. ix Hawkins, D.N., Amato, P.R., & King, V. (2006). Parent-adolescent involvement: The relative influence of parent gender and 

residence. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68(1), 125-136. x

 Hilton, J.M., Desrochers, S., & Devall, E. (2001). Role demands, relationships, and children’s functioning in single-mother, singlefather, and intact families. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 35(1/2), 29-56. xi Nord, C.W., & West, J. (2001). Fathers’ and mothers’ involvement in their children’s schools by family type and resident status 

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xii Thompson et al. (1992). 

xiii Demuth, S., & Brown, S.L. (2004). Family structure, family processes, and adolescent delinquency: The significance of parental

absence versus parental gender. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 41(1), 58-81; Buchanan et al. (2002). xiv Santrock, J.W., Warshak, R.A., & Elliott, G.L. (1982). Social development and parent-child interaction in father-custody and 

stepmother families. In M.E. Lamb (Ed.), Nontraditional families: Parenting and child development (pp. 289-331). Hillsdale, NJ: 

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xv Nord, & West. (2001). 

xvi Hoffmann, J.P., & Johnson, R.A. (1998). A national portrait of family structure and adolescent drug use. Journal of Marriage and 

the Family, 60(3), 633-645. xvii Demuth & Brown, 2004 xviii Garasky, S. (1995). The effects of family structure on educational attainment: Do the effects vary by the age of the child? 

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 54(1), 89-105. xix Mulkey, L., Crain, R., & Harrington, A. (1992). One-parent households and achievement: Economic and behavioral explanations 

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xxi Nord, & West. (2001). xxii Flewelling, R.L., & Bauman, K.E. (1990). Family structure as a predictor of initial substance use and sexual intercourse in early 

adolescence. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52(1), 171-181. xxiii Hilton & Devall, 1998; Risman, B. J., & Park, K. (1988). Just the two of us: Parent-child relationships in single-parent homes. 

Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50(4), 1049-1062; Breivik, K., & Olweus, D. (2006). Adolescent’s adjustment in four post-divorce 

family structures: Single mother, stepfather, joint physical custody and single father families. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 

44(3-4), 99-124. xxiv Breivik, & Olweus. (2006). xxv Demuth, & Brown. (2004). xxvi Bramlett, M.D., & Blumberg, S.J. (2007). Family structure and children’s physical and mental health. Health Affairs, 26(2), 549-

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xxvii See, Warshak, R.A. (1986). Father-custody and child development: A review and analysis of psychological research. Behavioral 

Sciences & the Law, 4(2), 185-202. xxviii Ambert, A. (1982). Differences in children’s behavior towards custodial mothers and custodial fathers. Journal of Marriage and 

the Family, 44(1), 73-86; Risman, & Park. (1988); Schnayer, R., & Orr, R.R. (1989). A comparison of children living in single-mother 

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xxxii Buchanan et al. (2002). xxxiii Downey, D.B., Ainsworth-Darnell, J.W., & Dufur, M.J. (1998). Sex of parent and children’s well-being in single-parent 

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http://www.bls.gov/nls/y97summary.htm.