# Men/Dads that important for children's well being?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-dads-that-important-for-childrens-well-being/3015>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 30, 1999, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-dads-that-important-for-childrens-well-being/3015 "1999-08-30T23:23:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 1999, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-dads-that-important-for-childrens-well-being/3015/21 "1999-09-01T05:34:00Z")

</div>

Yup, her question supposes that the initial premise is valid and true. I don’t believe that her initial premise is founded and therefore the questions are moot.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 1999, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-dads-that-important-for-childrens-well-being/3015/22 "1999-09-02T06:57:00Z")

</div>

Thanks for clearing that up for me, folks. I didn’t even realize the original premise - that a lot of family studies ignore men - was in question. And so I totally misinterpreted Omniscient’s response. I myself have read next to nothing (not counting unscientific Reader’s Digesty stuff) about family sociology, so I have nothing to add. So I’ll just listen quietly, without saying anything. Just like my dad did at the dinner table every night. _chuckle_

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Big\_Iron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Big\_Iron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Iron)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 1999, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-dads-that-important-for-childrens-well-being/3015/23 "1999-09-05T05:03:00Z")

</div>

Actually, I’m pretty sure I just read of a fairly credible study (not saying it’s correct) concluding that the presence or absence of a father in the household is dwarfed in its effect by the socioeconomic circumstances of the child as a factor.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-dads-that-important-for-childrens-well-being/3015.md?page=1)