By the end of 1998, the issue of promoting responsible fatherhood has become one of the top priorities for policymakers and elected officials, marking an almost unprecedented rise from obscurity as recently as five years ago. All fifty states now have responsible fatherhood programs in place and the recent welfare reform law was built on the premise that government policy should encourage the financial and emotional involvement of fathers in raising their children.
Responsible fatherhood is a hot issue.
Some political issues start out as national priorities only to end up as passing fads, but the issue of responsible fatherhood may be different. The number of children growing up without their father present, either in their home or in their lives, has been increasing. A growing body of research has documented the effects of this change. The two biggest reasons for father absence are divorce and children who are born to young, never-married mothers. Another less publicized reason for the increase in the number of children growing up without their fathers is the rapid increase in the number of men who are incarcerated in either prisons or jails.