The following article title in the Globe and Mail in March 2024 says :

 Single parents struggle as Canada’s policies stay stuck in the age of nuclear families. 

More children than ever are being raised by single parents, but measures that could help them – from child care to cost-of-living relief – are falling short. How can governments escape the shadow of 20th-century family values?

Two things stand out in this title and short excerpt, a question and a statement:

• • • • A scornful question of traditional values. “How can governments escape the shadow of 20th century family values?”
      • He states that “Canada’s policies are stuck in the age of nuclear families.”

Nuclear Family: In its most common usage, the term nuclear family refers to a household consisting of a father, a mother, and their children, all in one household dwelling.

Further reading on the family unit: God’s Design For Family  

One of the greatest social problems in Canada

The Canadian Children’s Right’s Council has an article on Fatherlessness in Canada. It indicates that it is one of the greatest social problems in Canada.

Several statements in this article unveil some uncommon knowledge:

• fathers commit a tiny minority of child abuse and about half the domestic violence.

• The vast majority of child physical and sexual abuse is committed in single-parent homes, home usually where the father is not present. “Contrary to public perception, research shows that the most likely physical abuser of a young child will be that child’s mother, not a male in the household.” [Patrick Fagan and Dorothy Hanks, The Child Abuse Crisis: The Disintegration of Marriage, Family, and the American Community (Washington, DC: Heritage Foundation “Backgrounder,” 3 June 1997), p. 16.]

• The father is the parent most likely to be the protector of children. “The presence of the father . . . placed the child at lesser risk for child sexual abuse,” according to David L. Rowland, Laurie S. Zabin, and Mark Emerson, in a study of low-income families. “The protective effect from the father’s presence in most households was sufficiently strong to offset the risk incurred by the few paternal perpetrators.” [“Household Risk and Child Sexual Abuse in a Low Income, Urban Sample of Women,” Adolescent and Family Health, vol. 1, no. 1 (Winter 2000), pp. 29-39.]

• A British study found children are up to 33 times more likely to be abused when a live-in boyfriend or stepfather is present than in an intact family. [Robert Whelan, Broken Homes and Battered Children: A Study of the Relationship between Child Abuse and Family Type (London: Family Education Trust, 1993), p. 29.]

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The Results of Father Deprivation

Father-deprivation is a more reliable predictor of criminal activity than race, environment or poverty.

Father-deprived children are:

The  questions we need to be asking are:

• • • • Why are single parent households continuing to increase? 
      • Why are the vast majority of single parent homes headed by mothers?
      • What can we do to support, educate, teach and model the most secure home for children- which is the home of the nuclear family? 

God’s Design For Family: Fathers and Mothers

The nuclear family was designed with a father and mother in the beginning; it was not man’s idea; it was God’s idea. He designed it this way for very good reasons. He knew that children thrive best with the nurture of both a father and a mother who each contribute very unique benefits to their children. This article focuses on the different roles: Dad’s Parent Differently Than Moms  The following is a short excerpt from the article:

Dads Parent Differently Than Moms: Sensitivity Balanced with Problem Solving

While all moms and dads are different, there is plenty of evidence to show that moms tend to bring more sensitivity and emotion to parenting than dads and fathers tend to encourage more problem solving and risk taking than moms.  Recognize that both are essential to the healthy growth and development of your children. Too much of any one good thing can create problems.  Being tuned into a child’s emotional life is important but it can be stifling if there is too much effort to protect the child from every bump and bruise that life has to offer.  On the other hand, while learning to take appropriate and necessary risks is important, taking risks that are potentially dangerous may lead to unintended accidents or set children up for needing to feel the rush of a risk accomplished, on a consistent basis.