Facts on Fatherhood - Day Eight

Father Factor in Child Abuse

• Compared to living with both parents, living in a single-parent home doubles the risk that a child will suffer physical, emotional, or educational neglect. Source: America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being. Table SPECIAL1. Washington, D.C.: Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 1997.
• The overall rate of child abuse and neglect in single-parent households is 27.3 children per 1,000, whereas the rate of overall maltreatment in two-parent households is 15.5 per 1,000. Source: America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being. Table SPECIAL1. Washington, D.C.: Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 1997.
• An analysis of child abuse cases in a nationally representative sample of 42 counties found that children from single-parent families are more likely to be victims of physical and sexual abuse than children who live with both biological parents. Compared to their peers living with both parents, children in single parent homes had: - a 77% greater risk of being physically abused- an 87% greater risk of being harmed by physical neglect- a 165% greater risk of experiencing notable physical neglect- a 74% greater risk of suffering from emotional neglect- an 80% greater risk of suffering serious injury as a result of abuse- overall, a 120% greater risk of being endangered by some type of child abuse. Source: Sedlak, Andrea J. and Diane D. Broadhurst. The Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect: Final Report. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Washington, D.C., September 1996.

Today pray for children that have been abused and have a father wound in their life. Ask that God help bring people into your life who you can be a father figure to so that they can see what Godly men look like.