Bayh, Obama Introduce Bill to Confront Growing Epidemic of Absentee Fathers
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Printable FormatBayh contact: Meghan Keck (202) 224-4598 Obama contact: Tommy Vietor (202) 228-5511
Senators say men must take responsibility for raising their children
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL) today introduced legislation to encourage more men to take responsibility for their children and to address some of the challenges families are facing as part of the growing epidemic of absentee fathers. The Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act of 2006 removes some of the government penalties on married families and offers support for fathers already trying to do the right thing, while also cracking down on men trying to avoid their parental responsibilities. In the last 40 years, the number of children without fathers in America has more than quadrupled, from 6 million in 1960 to more than 24 million today.
"Absentee dads are part of a silent but growing epidemic in our country," Senator Bayh said. "The longer we stay silent, the more men begin to think it's OK to walk away from their children. For those who are trying to do the right thing, our bill offers more ways for them to help their families. For those who aren't, our bill will hold them accountable. For the sake of our nation's children, it's time we asked more from men."
"As fathers, we need to teach our boys that having a child doesn't make you a man," Senator Obama said. "What makes you a man is having the courage to raise a child. But what government can do is to make it easier for those who make that courageous choice - and to make it harder for those who avoid it. This legislation will provide support for fathers who are trying to do the right thing in making child-support payments by providing them with job training and job opportunities and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. It also stops penalizing marriage in the tax code, and makes sure that children and families, not the government, receive every penny of child support."
Bayh and Obama's legislation would provide fathers with innovative job training services and other economic opportunities, including an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, to help non-custodial parents trying to support their families. At the same time, it would increase child support enforcement by an additional $4.9 billion over 10 years, a measure that will collect nearly $20 billion in payments from men who don't fulfill their parental responsibilities. Other provisions would help ensure that money paid for child support goes directly to children and their mothers, instead of the states, would remove government penalties on married families, and would strengthen domestic violence prevention services.
Encouraging responsible fathers would help promote stronger families and root out some of our most persistent social challenges. Studies show that children without fathers in their lives are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of school, and twenty times more likely to end up in prison. They also are more likely to have behavioral problems, to run away from home, and to become teenage parents themselves.
In February, Congress passed legislation introduced by Senator Bayh that provided up to $50 million each year for the next five years in funding for responsible fatherhood programs nationwide as part of the spending reconciliation bill.