Editing Father (section)

==Role of the father==
[[File:Father and child, Dhaka.jpg|thumb|Father and child, Dhaka, Bangladesh]]
In almost all cultures, fathers are regarded as secondary caregivers.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}} This perception is slowly changing with more and more fathers becoming primary caregivers while mothers go to work, or in single parenting situations and male same-sex parenting couples.

=== Fatherhood in the Western World ===
[[File:Aiden-Seth-Haley-Singleton.jpg|left|thumb|A father and his children in Florida]]
In the West, the image of the married father as the primary wage-earner is changing. The social context of fatherhood plays an important part in the well-being of men and their children.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Garfield, CF, Clark-Kauffman, K, David, MM |title=Fatherhood as a Component of Men's Health |journal=Journal of the American Medical Association |date=Nov 15, 2006 |volume=296 |doi=10.1001/jama.296.19.2365 |pmid=17105800 |issue=19 |pages=2365–8|last2=Clark-Kauffman |last3=Davis }}</ref> In the [[United States]] 16% of single parents were men as of 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb13-ff13.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424015256/http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb13-ff13.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 24, 2013 |title=Facts for Features |access-date=October 25, 2013 }}</ref>

=== Importance of father or father-figure ===
Involved fathers offer developmentally specific provisions to their children and are impacted themselves by doing so. Active father figures may play a role in reducing behavior and psychological problems in young adults.<ref>{{Citation
 | last1 =McLanahan
 | first1 =Sara
 | last2 =Tach
 | first2 =Laura
 | last3 =Schneider
 | first3 =Daniel
 | title =The Causal Effects of Father Absence
 | journal =Annual Review of Sociology
 | volume =39
 | pages =399–427
 | year =2013
 | doi =10.1146/annurev-soc-071312-145704| pmid =24489431
 | pmc =3904543
 }}</ref> An increased amount of father–child involvement may help increase a child's social stability, educational achievement,<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Karberg|first1=Elizabeth|last2=Finocharo|first2=Jane|last3=Vann|first3=Nigel|date=2019|title=Father and Child Well-Being: A Scan of Current Research|url=https://www.fatherhood.gov/sites/default/files/resource_files/nrfc_brief_for_web_508.pdf|access-date=October 17, 2019|website=fatherhood.gov|publisher=National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse}}</ref>{{Rp|5}} and their potential to have a solid marriage as an adult. Their children may also be more curious about the world around them and develop greater problem-solving skills.<ref>United States. National Center for Fathering, Kansas City, MO. Partnership for Family Involvement in Education. [http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/calltocommit/fathers.pdf A Call to Commitment: Fathers' Involvement in Children's Learning] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217184152/https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/parents/calltocommit/fathers.pdf |date=2020-02-17 }}. June 2000</ref>  Children who were raised with fathers perceive themselves to be more cognitively and physically competent than their peers without a father.<ref name="Fatherless">{{cite journal | pmid = 9363577 | volume=38 | issue=7 | title=Children raised in fatherless families from infancy: family relationships and the socioemotional development of children of lesbian and single heterosexual mothers | journal=J Child Psychol Psychiatry | pages=783–91 | last1 = Golombok | first1 = S | last2 = Tasker | first2 = F | last3 = Murray | first3 = C | doi=10.1111/j.1469-7610.1997.tb01596.x| year=1997 }}</ref>  Mothers raising children together with a father reported less severe disputes with their child.<ref name="Fatherless Followup">{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00324.x|pmid = 15482501|title = Children raised in fatherless families from infancy: A follow-up of children of lesbian and single heterosexual mothers at early adolescence|journal = Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry|volume = 45|issue = 8|pages = 1407–1419|year = 2004|last1 = MacCallum|first1 = Fiona|last2 = Golombok|first2 = Susan}}</ref>

The father-figure is not always a child's biological father, and some children will have a biological father as well as a step- or nurturing father. When a child is conceived through sperm donation, the donor will be the "biological father" of the child.

[[Fatherhood]] as legitimate identity can be dependent on domestic factors and behaviors. For example, a study of the [[Interpersonal relationship|relationship]] between fathers, their sons, and home computers found that the construction of fatherhood and [[masculinity]] required that fathers display computer expertise.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ribak|first=Rivka|title="Like immigrants": negotiating power in the face of the home computer|journal=New Media & Society|year=2001|volume=3|issue=2|pages=220–238|doi=10.1177/1461444801003002005|s2cid=8179638}}</ref>