Fatherlessness and adult quality of life: An African American perspective on the importance of male parenting

This study begins with the presupposition that fatherlessness, female-headed families and the resulting poor quality of life for adult African Americans are all byproducts, symptoms, of America's racial enigmas---historical and contemporary. Individuals who point to fatherlessness and female-headed families as the cause for the crisis in the African American family are stumbling over the causes to deal with the symptoms. Fathers in cowardly flight and the resulting fragmentation of family structure is a national problem. It is a plight that extends far beyond and crosses all class, racial and ethnic lines. Yet, it can be seen most dramatically within the African American community (Wilson 1987). As such, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between fatherlessness and adult quality of life among African Americans and to establish the importance of male parenting in the African American family. Is the objective and subjective quality of life better for adults who grew up in objective father-present families and worse for adults who grew up in fatherless families? it was hypothesized that adults who grew up in father-present families would have a better objective and subjective quality of life than adults who grew up in fatherless families. To answer the research question and to test the stated hypothesis, secondary data analysis was conducted utilizing pooled data of the 1972 through 1996 General Social Surveys. While most differences were small, they were in the expected direction and significant. The findings show that fatherless adults were, overall, disproportionally more likely to have a worse objective and subjective quality of life. Researchers have analyzed the effects of children growing up in surroundings that put them at high risk for adverse outcomes later in life. They conclude that these adverse outcomes materialize when children become adolescents---during childhood. The findings of this study confirm that such outcomes may be prevalent among children who grew up in fatherless and female-headed families. Yet, they are not automatically eliminated with movement from childhood to adulthood. In other words, the consequences of growing up in a fatherless or female-headed family can be long-lasting---even into adulthood and in some instances for a lifetime.