California Healthy Marriages Coalition Says Father's Day Highlights Importance of the Marital Relationship in Dad's Involvement with His Kids

LOS ANGELES, June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "The best predictor of father presence is marital status," says a report from the Institute for American Values, explaining that when a father's romantic relationship with the child's mother ends, this often ends his involvement with their children. While both parents bring a balance to the child's physical and emotional welfare, data from more than 100 studies point to fathers as being perhaps even more important than mothers in the lives of their children.  In a country where our divorce rate remains close to 50%, these are important points to ponder this Father's Day.  

In a 2008 survey of 2,005 California adults conducted by California Healthy Marriages Coalition (CHMC), 46% of those whose parents divorced had fathers who were not too involved or not at all involved compared to 13% of those whose parents stayed married.  The significance of father involvement is reinforced by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, reporting that "Children with involved, loving fathers are significantly more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem, exhibit empathy and pro-social behavior compared to children who have uninvolved fathers."

These observations are supported by data in Healthy Marriages, Responsible Fatherhood published by CHMC:

• There is a positive correlation between marital quality and the quality of the father-child relationship
• When marital conflict is high, fathers have a more difficult time being involved with their children, which weakens the father-child relationship

Relationship and Marriage Education improve marital satisfaction, increase parenting skills, and decrease marital conflict, therefore, strengthening the overall relationship between father and child. "My wife's support and encouragement help me be a better father to our kids," says K. Jason Krafsky, Director of Communications and Marketing of CHMC, co-author of Facebook and Your Marriage, and father of four. "The quality of the relationship with my wife, how we communicate, work as a team and express intimacy, model for our kids what a healthy marriage is and give them a better chance of having one themselves in the future."

For the past five years, CHMC has taught proven relationship-building skills to more than 100,000 Californians in Relationship and Marriage Education classes offered through local partner organizations around the state. Class information is available at www.CaMarriage.com.

SOURCE California Healthy Marriages Coalition