I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my father. Countless studies over the past decade point to the fact that the possibilities for my future improved tremendously because my dad was simply there for me during my childhood. Parents determine the destiny of their children in the years when kids try to make a sense of this world. Fathers traditionally play half the role in parenting, but their role is often underrated.
As the question on how to improve the standards of living in this country often becomes muddled in a complex answer of psychology, politics and economics, many policymakers forget the most important role in a person’s life: their parents. Governments may try to mold policies to shape better livelihoods for millions, but people’s lives are determined during childhood.
According to National Affairs, “a review of 92 empirical studies . . . showed abundant evidence that children from divorced families scored lower on several measures of development than did children living in continuously intact families.” The U.S. may have the highest Gini coefficient, measuring economic inequality among rich countries, but it also has among the highest rates of divorce and number of children born out of wedlock. No government policies would change the environments children are born into overnight, but policies to help those who are supposed to nurture tomorrow’s leaders could improve livelihoods over time.
Fathers and mothers both have important roles in parenting, but they may not share an equal role in raising sons. Regardless of a mother’s income or behavior, a 2011 study concluded boys raised in a home without a fatherly figure were far more likely to engage in delinquent behavior. Sons, future fathers, need a role model to idolize.
Therefore, to improve conditions in this country, policies that result in men serving as fatherly figures is a great start. According to the same National Affairs article, men who receive technical or career-specific training in high school were 33 percent more likely to be married, 30 percent more likely to live with their partners and children, and earned about $30,000 more than men who didn’t participate in these types of programs. Basically, some of the best policies to improve children’s environments should include educating their fathers.
Fathers may play a big role in their children’s futures and therefore society as a whole, but the rest of us often fail in the way we show our appreciation. Father’s Day is often just an afterthought when compared to Mother’s Day, which is just a month earlier than Father’s Day.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent $21.2 billion for Mother’s Day in 2015 and just $12.7 billion on dads. About 30 percent of mothers, sons and daughters buy dad gifts for Father’s Day that would be a joke to get someone any other holiday: shirts and socks. Most men probably don’t need another tie, which is why the most popular gift is spending quality time with Fathers on the holiday.
Nevertheless, according to The Christian Science Monitor, around 30 percent still celebrate Father’s Day with gift cards and about 8 percent celebrate with nothing. Time is priceless, and a dinner or outing with Dad shows more appreciation than a gift card or socks that reveals the mentality 24 hours beforehand of, “Wait, Father’s Day is this Sunday?”
This column is filled with a lot of studies and statistics, but research forms a conclusion to a story often untold. Fathers are crucial to society overall, but they are also overlooked by governments and underappreciated on the day they’re meant to be celebrated. While some men need to step up to their role as fathers, changes in policies and mentalities could make it easier to do so.
Joshua Udvardy is a UF mechanical engineering sophomore. His column appears on Thursdays.
