Seth Udinski, FISM News
A recent study conducted by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) reveals the vital role a present, loving father plays in the well-being of their children.
Released last month, the study titled “‘Life Without Father’: Less College, Less Work, and More Prison for Young Men Growing Up Without Their Biological Father,” focuses on the dramatic effect a father has on the success of young men in particular.
Though the numbers are shocking, the general concept is not, especially considering the biblical understanding that God purposefully designed for families to be structured with the husband and father ordained to lead the family in their pursuit of the gospel. The study revealed that the percentage of men who graduate college between 28-34 is 35% when their biological father is present, compared to a paltry 14% when the father is absent.
Similarly, the peace stage of men who fall into the category of “idle” by the age of 29 dramatically increases when the biological father is missing from the picture. The poll explains “idle” men in this way – men who spend the majority of their lives “marked by hours in front of a screen while vaping, smoking marijuana, or under the influence of some other kind of substance.” The poll revealed that 11% of men with a present biological father will do this, compared to 19% of men without their father in their lives.
Additionally, the poll revealed the great impact a father has on his son abiding by the law. The percentage of young men who are arrested at some point in their life by the age of 19 sits at 21% for those with a present father but jumps to 31% for the fatherless.
The difference is even more drastic for men who have been arrested at least once by the age of 34. Only 10% of men with a present father fall into this category, while the number more than doubles at 21% for those without a father.
The poll reveals a truth that multiple data sets have proven before – a father can make or break their children’s future. The Bible speaks of the “sins of the father” harming posterity down to the third and fourth generations.
Conversely, God commands faithful men to love their children and follow the example of God Himself, who is our perfect Heavenly Father. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”