by Jennifer Paige

Created on: October 25, 2007

In 2003, 26% of American households were headed by single mothers. This number continues to rise, leading many people to ponder the effects of growing up without a father on children, particularly the effect it has on boys. Is it harmful to boys to grow up in a fatherless household? If so, what are the specific consequences of being raised only by a mother?

It is immediately necessary to point out that the effects of being raised without a father are contingent upon the conditions leading up to becoming fatherless. "Why is the father absent?" is a critical question that influences how boys are impacted by not having a father.

Perhaps the mother was raped or was promiscuous and thus does not know who the father is. Another possibility is that the father is in prison or abandoned the family for some other reason. The father might also be absent because of divorce or death. Anyone can see that each of these situations will impact boys in a different way. It would be impossible to present the consequences of each in one article. The only recourse is to make generalizations based on available research findings.

Although the question refers to boys, research shows that most problems related to being raised in single-parent households are not isolated to just boys or just girls. In other words, most of the effects of being raised without a father are gender universal. One exception is the negative effect on self-concept for boys. Boys raised by a single parent suffer from lower self-concept than girls raised by a single parent. Boys also have lower self-concept than children of either sex with both parents in the household.

Many single-mothers excel in raising boys without a father in the household. However, most researchers have found negative effects of being raised by only a mother.

The general patterns that have emerged for children raised solely by a mother are:

1. higher rates of juvenile delinquency

2. less chance of attending college

3. higher rates of leaving the home early to get a job, join the military,
to get married, or to cohabitate

4. increased interpersonal conflict with the mother

5. more psychological problems

6. more classroom behavioral problems

7. lower grades and overall educational attainment

What factors increase risk for these problems? The main contributing factor to these problems is poverty. Single-mothers and their children have the highest rates of poverty. This trend is referred to as the "feminization of poverty." Some of the aforementioned patterns

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