WhyNot it isn’t a tautology unless already you believe that present fathers are good fathers and that only absent Dads are crappy.
I agree that an absent Dad is not a good father, but do not agree that todays present fathers are worse than past Dads, in fact I think that they do a better job in the main. There are more and more fathers like serious lark’s partner, trupa, who are involved. Sure most do not become stay at home parents, but more than in years past.
There are societal expectations to fight against yet. In sl’s case you see an illustration of it and not only on Dad’s side. Sure, he had to fight past a well meaning grandma, and all, and some Moms would have played into it too. But Mom has obviously had to deal with snarkey comments too. Stll the barrriers are less than before.
Absent fathers are another issue and to me seem to be mostly a result of, shall we say, more fluid family structures. Divorce is down some, but only because people are not getting married in the first place. Once out of a house (if ever in it) it takes an already quite committed Dad to overcome some of the barriers present. And these are most likely the families where those comittments have not been strongest.
I think this is close. I read about this issue before, and I think specifically in the U.S. there are three important factors:
teen pregnancies
less social cohesion
poverty
These three factors combine very intricately to acerbate the problem. Teen pregnancies are a combination of bad or no sex-ed, and a negatice stance towards abortion. Less social cohesion comes from smaller families, increased individualisation, and divorce having become more acceptable. Poverty is strong factor in all of that, from a general dismay that leads to irresponsible behavior, to financial problems, lack of education (including sex-ed) and lack of opportunities. The problems are also self-perpetuating. The next generation may grow up without a father, a working mother, raised on the streets, miss out on a decent education, and so on.
Single parent families and statistics on crime are, in that context, only interesting if they deviate from poverty and statistics on crime. Since they don’t, the correlation is more an indication that poverty and crime are related in a similar way that poverty and single parent families are, rather than that single parent families per se lead to crime.
In a wealthy environment, there is generally the option to buy childcare, daycare, a good social circle of friends, good education opportunities, and fathers remaining interested in their progeny after the relationship broke down or even wanting (partial) custody.
Just so we are clear, the teen birthrate peaked back in 1957. What has really changed is that back in 1958, you probably got married before or after getting knocked up:
