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"Fine with me. I think its a great idea to hand kids over to their fathers to raise. I'd love to see some of these "single-dads" raise the 7 or 8 kids (or God only knows how many) they've fathered. More power to them, I'm sure they'll do a great job! "

Anecdotally, I've known two such men whom you would consider to be the dregs in your misandric barrel. One guy, a formerly illiterate ex-con, ended up with four kids from various relationships. I got to meet him when he won the statewide learner's award in a major volunteer literacy program. Two of his kids were honors students. The other guy, same deal - illiterate until he was about twenty-five - had a couple of kids that he took back when his mother died. They too became honor students under his care. When I think of men as single fathers, those guys always come to mind.

The facts are that roughly 85% of the incarcerated and 80% of pregnant teen girls were raised by single mothers, who make up roughly 80% of single parents. Less than 1% of those groups were raised by single fathers, who make up 15% of single parents. At the very least, these numbers indicate that an involved father is as or more important than an involved support payment.

It's a pathetic myth that the men who've storm enemy lines, dug canals through jungles, and fired themselves off into space in tin cans are incapable of rearing children alone. At the risk of sounding like I'm trying to restart the gender pissing contest - single parenting may be a sub-optimal arrangement, but when men do it, they're generally more successful at it than women.

Anecdotally, I've known two such men whom you would The facts are that roughly 85% of the incarcerated and 80% of pregnant teen girls were raised by single mothers, who make up roughly 80% of single parents. Less than 1% of those groups were raised by single fathers, who make up 15% of single parents. The key word here is "anecdotally". There is a bias in your statistics that the men who are single fathers are to a greater degree single fathers by choice rather than circumstance, therefore they are more motivated to be good parents. The only way to truly prove if the apparent "trend" would hold out, is to switch the numbers around and make 85% of single households "single-dad" households. Then we could compare apples and apples. Until then, its apples and oranges and no comparison.

Which is why I say let's do it. Let's give custody over to men 85% of the time, not by choice but my default (as we do with women now) whether or not there is evidence the father would be a good parent. Then let's check the statistics again. Just hand that newborn over to the father and and the mother walks away. Let's try it and see what happens.

It's a pathetic myth that the men .... are incapable of rearing children alone.

I agree, it is a myth. How did that myth get started do you think? IMO it is not a matter of ability, it is a matter of motivation.

"single parenting may be a sub-optimal arrangement, but when men do it, they're generally more successful at it than women."

Well, I don't agree with this generalization based on the bias in sampling (as I explained above). But nevermind. I could be wrong. Let's give it a whirl and find out!

By the way I too know men who have successfully raised children on their own. One man I know (now about 70) raised 4 children on his own after his wife succumbed to some debilitating illness (I forgot which). In addition he took care of her as long as he could before he had to put her in a care home. He could have divorced her and remarried but he did not until she died and by then the kids were mostly grown.

But this man you could pre-select as the type of individual who would step up to the plate and do the right thing in ANY situation. Not every man, not every woman, has that integrity. We can point to these people as examples, and there are many of both sexes, but the reality is most people are not of that caliber.

The facts are that roughly 85% of the incarcerated and 80% of pregnant teen girls were raised by single mothers, who make up roughly 80% of single parents. Less than 1% of those groups were raised by single fathers, who make up 15% of single parents. At the very least, these numbers indicate that an involved father is as or more important than an involved support payment.

It's a pathetic myth that the men who've storm enemy lines, dug canals through jungles, and fired themselves off into space in tin cans are incapable of rearing children alone. At the risk of sounding like I'm trying to restart the gender pissing contest - single parenting may be a sub-optimal arrangement, but when men do it, they're generally more successful at it than women.

A comment worth repeating.