The $154 Billion Problem Many Communities Are Ignoring — And How to Fix It
In 2018 the United States spent roughly $154 billion on federal programs that support father‑absent households, a 54.5% rise from 2006. The cost is driven mainly by Medicaid, SNAP, the Earned Income Tax Credit and housing assistance, and excludes many state and local expenditures. The National Fatherhood Initiative argues that the figure underestimates the true economic burden of father absence. It urges human‑services organizations to shift from treating fathers as add‑ons to embedding them in whole‑family strategies that can lower long‑term public‑assistance costs.
The Beautiful Irony of Leading a Fatherhood Program
Rachel Marmor, a woman without a healthy father figure, now directs PAIRS Foundation’s IronBond Fatherhood program. She leverages her personal experience of intergenerational fatherlessness to teach fathers essential emotional and parenting skills. The initiative reframes fatherhood as a learnable set...
Engaging Fathers in Pregnancy Resource Centers: Criteria That Work
A Caring Center for Women’s (CCW) in Vero Beach, Florida, has pioneered father inclusion in its pregnancy resource center, serving 500 fathers over the past two years. The model rests on three criteria: leadership commitment securing dedicated funding, a team...
Excellent Primers on the Child Support Program
The National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) is expanding practitioner capacity to help non‑custodial fathers navigate the complex child‑support system. It promotes the widely‑used “11 Things to Know and Learn About Child Support” brochure, booster sessions for the 24:7 Dad program, and a...