Mark Souder: “It is no secret that children who have fathers in the home tend to do better in school, have more success in…”

“It is no secret that children who have fathers in the home tend to do better in school, have more success in relationships, and get into less trouble. A broad array of America's leading family and child development experts agree that it is in the best interests of children and the Nation as a whole to encourage more two-parent, father-involved families. According to a 1996 Gallup Poll, 79.1 percent of Americans believed that the most significant family or social problem facing America is the physical absence of the father in the home and the resulting lack of involvement of fathers in the rearing and development of their children. According to the Bureau of the Census in 1996, 16,993,000 children in the United States, one-fourth of all the children in the United States, lived in families in which a father was absent.”