What do fathers contribute to children's well-being?

This brief summarizes key research findings on the relationship between father involvement and child outcomes. As rates of divorce and nonmarital childbearing have increased in recent decades, the percentage of children and fathers who live apart from one another has also increased. Yet our knowledge of how father involvement affects children's well-being in these situations is quite limited, since most research on fathers and children has focused on intact families. This brief summarizes that larger body of research, as well as the relatively small group of studies that consider fathers who live apart from their children. (Author abstract)