by Kelly Greenbaum

Created on: October 03, 2009   Last Updated: October 04, 2009

Little is known about premarital fatherhood as testing has been focused more on motherhood, but the studies that they have done prove that premarital fatherhood is not beneficial to the father. Data from the first 15 years of the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were used to determine prevalence of premarital fertility among men." It was found that premarital fatherhood is associated with a range of negative socioeconomic consequences as including less schooling, lower earnings, less employment, and greater likelihood of living in poverty. Some of these consequences are the result of self selection effects, but many appear to be caused by unmarried fatherhood." .

The responsibility of becoming a father is overwhelming when you are ready to procreate. However, you become a father regardless of how ready you are. And, unlike women, men do not actually physically have the baby; so many times their emotions are taken lightly into consideration. Men have been raised and taught through generations, by their parents, role models, and outside environmental stimuli, including the media that they are to be tough, almost stoic when it comes to the responsibilities of fatherhood. It is less prevalent in today's society but the stereotype still exists.

This prevents many young fathers from having the opportunity to explore their feelings and so often they just pretend not to have any. Of course they have feelings and not to deal with them is robbing them of a solution. Everyone in a family unit suffers if even one member is not doing well. No-one lives in a bubble and every action causes a reaction.

Having a baby changes everything around you. You are no longer the center of your universe. The baby becomes the most important person in your life. Not only your life, but everyone you know. The baby is a child, future sibling, cousin, aunt or uncle, grandchild, and God Child. Life goes from your perspective being first to having your perspective coming in last. Men need as much help in adjusting to a new baby, as women do in adjusting to being a first time mother.

Statistics prove this and yet the help that is needed for men seems to fall along the wayside when prioritizing. Fist comes the baby, second comes the mom, and the father is usually last. Ignoring the problem when it is something small, magnifies the problem later on. A small problem that could have been dealt with becomes an all out failure. Other nations have succeeded at saving the family unit and it has been very beneficial to their prosperity. This proves it can be done and done effectively.

A happy ending can be had by all with proper education starting at home, and continuing support in school, faith, and college. Realizing that little and big boys need as much help in dealing with their emotions as women, when it comes to parenthood, would be a good first step. They may have different emotions then women do, but they are equally important. Until we start addressing this as a real problem the solution will continue to elude us.

Information gathered from the American Sociological Review, Vol. 63, No. 2 (Apr., 1998), pp. 250-263
(article consists of 14 pages)

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