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Fatherhood in Richmond: Some statistics

By Staff Reports
Published: June 20, 2009

Fatherhood in Richmond

62.4 percent of all live births occurred outside of marriage, compared with 37.1 percent for the Richmond region and 34.1 percent for Virginia
The nonmarital birth rate has been increasing steadily in the past
25 years
21 percent of nonmarital births are to women 19 or younger
The nonmarital birth rate among black mothers is 82.9 percent, compared with 35.1 percent among white mothers

Source: Virginia Department of Health, 2006 data

With fathers present:

Children perform better academically
Children experience fewer behavioral problems
Children are less likely to engage in delinquent behavior
Girls experience an increased sense of competency
Boys become more responsible men and fathers
Fathers experience increased self-esteem

With fathers absent:

Children are five times more likely to be poor
Children are two to three times more likely to smoke cigarettes
Children are two times more likely to drop out of school
Children are 11/2times more likely to experience a nonmarital teen pregnancy