Over Half of New Bedford Kids Live in Single-Parent Households

The Massachusetts Family Institute says, "Fatherlessness is a tragedy for the child, a disaster for the family, a blight on the community, and a catastrophe for the Commonwealth and the country."

MFI's 2022 report "Fatherlessness in Massachusetts: The Economic and Social Costs to our Commonwealth" states that a third of newborn children in Massachusetts "are entering the world without a married mother and father."

The problem is worse in some of the state's larger cities, such as Springfield, where 63 percent of children live in single-parent households.

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The percentage of single-parent households in New Bedford and Fall River is 56 percent. In Worcester, it's 51 percent, Lowell 49 percent, Boston 48 percent, and Brockton and Lynn each at 46 percent.

"This problem of family decline is not limited to any one demographic group in Massachusetts, as fatherlessness cuts across racial and ethnic lines," according to MFI.

The report states, "The increase in fatherless families means that growing numbers of young people will reach adulthood ill-equipped to become self-supporting wage earners and taxpayers, and active, informed citizens."

The report also found the child poverty rate in fatherless homes to be 46.9 percent in Fall River and 37.9 percent in New Bedford. Springfield led the way at 51 percent. The rate in Brockton was 30 percent.

The research found that "Massachusetts schoolchildren who lived without both parents were more than 60 percent more likely to repeat a grade."

A startling statistic indicates, "Massachusetts children in single-parent homes had over ten times the risk of having witnessed violence within their own households."

The Massachusetts Family Institute website has the complete report which includes graphs and statistics about education, crime, violence and other issues.