The number of fatherless children grows; situation breeds poverty and crime

The percentage of children without the father’s name on the birth certificate has been growing every year in Brazil. And, according to researchers who follow the subject closely, this is a problem that must be treated as a priority.

Data from Arpen (National Association of Natural Person Registrars) show that the percentage of children registered with an “absent father” increased from 5.5% in 2018 to 6.9% in 2023 (considering the period up to June 6). In the period, every year registered a growth in relation to the previous 12 months.

The absolute number of babies in this situation has grown even with the reduction in the total number of births. Between 2018 and 2022, the total number of births in Brazil dropped from around 2.85 million to 2.59 million. Even so, the number of newborns without the father’s name on the certificate increased from 157.5 thousand to 164.6 thousand.

Poorest cities at the top

Cities with the highest percentage of births without paternal registration have something in common: they are relatively small and low-income municipalities.

In Senador Alexandre Costa (MA), 47 of the 201 (approximately 23.4%) birth records in the city had only the mother’s name in 2022. Taking into account cities with at least 100 births, it was the highest rate in the country . Alexandre Costa has a high level of illiteracy (34.2% according to the 2010 Census) and low development (the city occupies the 5,339th place in the ranking of the Development Index of municipalities, among 5,565), prepared by the United Nations Program for the development.

Next, among the 10 municipalities with the highest rates of certificates without the father’s name, are Porto Walter (AC), Itaipava do Grajaú (MA), Parnarama (MA), Timbiras (MA), Fernando Falcão (MA), Buriti Bravo (MA), Governador Eugênio Barros (MA), Novo Gama (GO) and Buriticupu (MA).

Among the 23 cities that had at least 10,000 births, Boa Vista (14.3%), Macapá (12%) and Manaus (10.9%) appear with the highest percentages. Belo Horizonte (4.6%), Curitiba (3.9%) and Campinas (3.9%) had the lowest number of birth certificates without identifying the father.

The states in the North region are, on average, those with the highest percentage of birth certificates without identifying the father. Of the first six on the list, five are from there: Amapá (13%), Acre (12%), Amazonas (10.7%), Roraima (10.3%) and Pará (8.4%). In second place, Maranhão (11.6%) completes the list. At the other end, with the lowest index, are Rio Grande do Sul (4.7%), Paraná (4.5%), Rio Grande do Norte (4.5%), Minas Gerais (4.3%) and Santa Catherine (4.1%).

Research shows consequences

Among psychologists, sociologists and pedagogues, there is little doubt that the lack of a father figure harms children. According to different studies, young people raised in this situation are more likely to live in poverty, drop out of school and commit crimes. They are also twice as likely to take their own life.

In 2013, an article published by researchers from the universities of Princeton, Cornell and Berkeley, in the United States, analyzed 47 studies, carried out in different countries, regarding the consequences of father absence. Their conclusion is clear: “We found solid evidence that father absence negatively affects children’s socio-emotional development.” They explain that this correlation is even more intense when paternal abandonment occurs in early childhood. Furthermore, the effects are more visible on boys than on girls.

For sociologist Eduardo Matos de Alencar, a doctor at UFPE (Federal University of Pernambuco), the logic is even more cruel in environments of poverty. “When you have favorable financial conditions or if you have a network of stable family relationships, the problem of having children without marriage can be mitigated. Children need parental supervision, affection and discipline. The absence of any of these variables inevitably affects statistics on crime, violence, impoverishment, poor school performance, etc.”, he says.

In Alencar’s opinion, the increase in the number of children registered without the father’s name should be seen in a broader context of the disintegration of traditional family structures. “When associated with other variables, it is possible to see a worrying picture. Not long ago, a survey showed that 48.7% of households are headed by women. We have an increasing average of divorces in proportion to marriages. And we are the second country in the world in terms of teenage pregnancy rate”, he says, before adding: “As a whole, these data reflect an increasingly liberal society, devoid of a transcendent conception of the value of family ties. ”

Rodolfo Canônico, executive director of Family Talks, says the implications of father absence are obvious: women are overwhelmed and, as a result, have less opportunity to pay attention to the needs of children. “These mothers, especially those who are in a more vulnerable situation, have very big challenges for their children’s education. Cognitive and emotional development benefits from the father’s presence, and these benefits cease to exist when there is no father present, ”he says.

The role of government

For the American author Katy Faust, who studies the subject closely and founded an organization to promote the importance of the biological family, the recent increase in the rates of father absence should worry Brazilians. “Fathers are not replaceable. These children will be at a disadvantage because they will miss out on father-specific developmental benefits, such as cultivating gross motor skills through rough, physical play. They will lose half of their biological identity, which helps children answer the existential question ‘who am I?’ They will miss the parental love that all children crave.”

Creator of the organization Them Before US, Katy travels the United States defending that the well-being of children must be above the preferences of adults. She asserts that both government and civil society must engage in the promotion of healthy and stable families, formed whenever possible on the basis of a biological father and mother. “The government has a vested interest in promoting the lifelong union of a child’s mother and father because, by all metrics, these children are the healthiest physically, mentally, emotionally, academically, and from a relationship standpoint. ”, she argues.

The author adds that even small measures, such as tributes to couples who reach 50 or 60 years of marriage, help shape the culture and create a pro-family stability environment. “The State should encourage the formation of families not only through the economy, with tax incentives, but also by valuing and honoring lifelong heterosexual unions. This can and must be done without denigrating or belittling those who are not or cannot be part of these unions”, says Katy.

Rodolfo Canonico agrees that the State can encourage the formation of solid families without violating individual freedoms. “On the one hand, it is not up to the State to interfere in people’s private decisions. On the other hand, it is up to the State to understand the situations and create stimuli; for example, promoting greater male involvement in care is something positive for society”, he says, who regrets: “Today this is an issue that is not very present in the public space.”