fair enough, but what if the father is not in a picture out of his own will? What about situations like that? Some people forget to mention that some fathers not only walk away but also don't pay child support, so I am not sure what you are trying to say here.
To be honest, i'm not entirely sure what
you're trying to say here. I was pointing out that the
ideal situation, the one nature planned for, was for a child to have 2 parents.
I disagree. It depends on the quality of parenting, and if both parents contribute, you have a case, if one of the parent does not (either sex) then you don't have a case. It depends on the situation and in the ideal world, both parent are nice, responsible, not stressed out, always have a good job, love each other etc. :)
Well, I defy you then :D and if one parent doesn't contribute to parenting then my case still stands - one parent works to provide, one devotes more time to the children. In a single-parent household this isn't possible unless that one parent scrounges off the state. Both situations are common but the first one is surely far more preferable than the second.
sometimes even the single parent family has a small community of friends who are replacing the father figure, or an aunt, or another member of the family.
I agree that the father figure can be filled more than adequately by another person and I also agree that some children are better off without their biological fathers
BUT you're not considering other scenarios which are just as, if not more, common. There are plenty of mothers who choose to be single, not for their child's sake but for their own, in order to take advantage of free housing, extra benefits etc. and i'm sure there are plenty of fathers out there who don't even know that they're fathers! In these situations the child loses out.
