What does "fatherless" mean?

[M30USA]

I heard Oprah Winfrey say that 1/3 of all children in America are "fatherless". What exactly does that term mean? Clearly every child has a genetic father. Does she mean the dad just vanished and has zero part in their kid's life? What about the dads who don't have primary custody but still have their kids 1/3/5 weekends and summers? Is that "fatherless"? If that's the case, then my kids who I love and would take a bullet for are "fatherless". I just have a hard time believing 1/3 of kids have no fathers.

[Mr. Lucky]

I think she means simply that they don't live full time with their dads. I agree, fatherless is an awkward description.

 

As an aside, my wife was a teacher in a very urban, low-income area elementary school. Of 30 students in her class, 7 lived in a conventional nuclear family with both parents under one roof. The numbers in some areas are staggering...

 

Mr. Lucky

[M30USA]

I think she means simply that they don't live full time with their dads. I agree, fatherless is an awkward description.

 

As an aside, my wife was a teacher in a very urban, low-income area elementary school. Of 30 students in her class, 7 lived in a conventional nuclear family with both parents under one roof. The numbers in some areas are staggering...

 

Mr. Lucky

 

Maybe someone should ask Oprah why 70% of divorces are initiated by women. That might shed a little light on the "fatherless" issue.

[RonaldS]

Fatherless would be somebody like me. My dad bolted and moved across the country when I was less than 2 and never looked back. He also never paid child support. My mother forced me into his life when I was in my teens, but it never stuck.