USA Today shows how “non-resident” dads who don’t live with their children are staying involved with them. Half of all children will spend part of their lives living apart from their fathers.
Sharon Jayson writes (excerpt):
“The point isn’t what fathers do; it’s whether the kid thinks or believes the father cares about them,” says Philip Cowan, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California-Berkeley.
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Cowan says the “best predictor of whether a father is going to be involved with his kids is his relationship with the mom. “They don’t have to love each other or like each other, but they do need to co-parent and collaborate.”
Others agree; the more time non-resident fathers spend with their kids, the better the relationship between the parents, finds a study co-authored by Marcia Carlson, associate professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. . . .