The role of fathers in the modern American family is changing in important and countervailing ways. Fathers who live with their children have become more intensely involved in their lives, spending more time with them and taking part in a greater variety of activities. However, the share of fathers who are residing with their children has fallen significantly in the past half century. Full Report: Download PDF

ThePew Research Center report is troublesome in many ways. Too many men who father children do not think they have any responsibility to raise them.

[Open Eyes]

It wouldn't come up on my computer the page is blank for some reason.

I was wondering if there was a certain class studied or if it covered all lower, middle, and upper class families. But that has been the case for a long time. And even in the old days men didn't always really interact with their children. And many of them simply do not know how to raise a child.

I do see a lot of families and I see pretty much all classes. At least in my observance I see fathers taking more of an interest in their children, but that may just be that I am seeing the families that make events for their children a big deal.

However I did notice the biggest difference in the upper well to do class of clients.
The parents in that situation basically have their children tended to by a nanny.
And the children were very different than all the other children I met in all different religions. They were generally well behaved but not really close to their parents, kind of distant altogether and not as bold and outgoing. They were somewhat quiet and reserved.

Now in the high rated expensive horse show world the children were basically waited on and they had the best of everything except dads were not there, only their money. Some of them were all about winning and others couldn't care a less. They would show up at the grounds, their horse would be all ready for them and they would go in and ride the competition, hand the horse over to the groom and off they went. They are spoiled and would not consider picking up after themselves, that is something others do after them. Um future politicians? Sorry had to put that in, couldn't help but wonder.

But I do see a trend in fathers that do not pay child support still, even with the law that enforces it.

But, as far as I know there is no real education requirement on how to raise children and how the brain of a child developes. Which as everyone knows I am very much in favor of.

Open Eyes

It takes a bit of time for the pdf to load. It is 31 pages.

[elliemay]

You can read the essence of the report here (I think):

http://pewsocialtrends.org/2011/06/1...f-two-fathers/

[Perna]

I think a lot was based on "attitudes toward fatherhood" which is kind of meaningless. People have opinions about all sorts of things but does not mean it correlates with experience. I'm sure there would be nearly a 100% attitude against child abuse too, but don't think that is what happens.

I think the number of father's living away from home and not very interactive with their children correlates to earlier days when fathers lived at home but were not very interactive with their children. Yes, more fathers are more interactive and more fathers live away from home and I think that "balances". I think father's who live with their children and are interactive now would be inclined to stay interactive if they moved away from the home and/or their children would live with them for some part of the week (joint custody/two homes). I don't think they covered that in the study? I don't think fathers living away from their children who are not interactive have "changed"; they probably weren't interactive when they "lived with" their children.