ABSTRACT
The decline of fatherhood is one of the most basic, unexpected, and extraordinary social trends of the time. Marriage and the nuclear family—mother, father, and children—are the most universal social institutions in existence. What the decline of fatherhood and marriage in America really means, then, is that slowly, insidiously, and relentlessly the society has been moving in an ominous direction. Almost all of today's fatherless children have fathers who are alive, well, and perfectly capable of shouldering the responsibilities of fatherhood. The replacement of death by divorce as the prime cause of fatherlessness, then, is a monumental setback in the history of childhood. In recognition of the fatherhood problem, human cultures have used sanctions to bind men to their children, and of course the institution of marriage has been culture's chief vehicle. The most tangible and immediate consequence of fatherlessness for children is the loss of economic resources.
