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New studies suggest that having a sense of purpose makes dads healthier, happier, and stronger in the face of challenges we're all facing.

This episode of NPR’s All Things Considered looks at how many men are being forced to confront new realities at home since the pandemic. It includes anecdotal stories of dads stepping up domestically and describes census data that also suggests a larger number of men are spending more time at home.

Kinship care refers to familial arrangements where the primary caregiver(s) are biological relatives, godparents, or other fictive kin with strong bonds, raising children when the biological parents are unable. The majority of children living in a home with neither of their biological parents’ present are living in kinship care arrangements. Previous research has primarily focused on maternal involvement and experiences in kinship care; however, little is known about paternal access, engagement, and responsibility in these arrangements. Researchers and practitioners have identified factors…

To help unmarried parents improve their coparenting relationship, this National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) spotlight on research provides a quick look at findings from a recent journal article, “Harder Being Without the Baby”: Fathers’ Coparenting Perspectives in Responsible Fatherhood Programming (Randles, 2020).

The research drew on interviews and focus groups conducted with 64 low-income fathers who participated in a federally funded responsible fatherhood program in California. The program is referred to as “DADS” in the article and in this spotlight.

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Parents and families are facing new challenges, but one thing hasn’t changed: the importance of dads being involved in their children’s lives. The NRFC is proud to release a series of new PSAs that encourage fathers to show their “#Dadication” by making time for their kids, even when parenting isn’t easy.

This video, titled, Marvin,  features a father who shares his story of parenting his son.

Check out the other #Dadication” PSAs which, depict some of the many ways fathers can show up for their children even when they are…

This National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) Tip Sheet has suggestions and resources to help young dads enjoy a successful journey with their child and their child’s mother.

Information is drawn from previously published NRFC material and other resources noted at the end of this document.

Since the last decade review of the fathering literature in 2000, scholars across numerous disciplines such as demography, family studies, medicine, nursing, law, psychology, social work, and sociology have continued to produce a steady stream of work on fathering and father-child relationships. This literature is reviewed selectively with a focus on key developments, persistent challenges, and critical directions for future research. Significant developments include greater availability of large and nationally representative datasets to study fathers; expansion and evaluation of U.S.…

Over one-quarter of all children under 21 years of age have one of their parents living outside of their household. When this occurs, it is often the legal obligation of the noncustodial parent to provide financial support to help pay for the costs associated with raising their children. This report provides an overview of these children and their custodial parents, including their socioeconomic characteristics and the types and amount of child support received from noncustodial parents.

This Data Snapshot reports on how resident and non-resident fathers’ involvement with their young and school-age children changed from 2002 to 2016.

Data in this snapshot come from the 2002 and 2015–2017 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) (see Data box, page 12). Analyses are limited to men aged 20–44 who reported having at least one minor child (ages 0–18). Information on father involvement is shown separately for resident and non-resident fathers, and by child age (0–4 and 5–18), because developmentally appropriate…