The fаther/child fаmily, like the mоther/child fаmily, is a result оf widоwhood, divorce, separation, nonmarriage, and, more recently, single-parent adoption. While only 3.9 percent of all children under age eighteen live with their fathers only, that number increased from 748,000 in 1970 to 1.1 million in 1980 to 2.8 million in 1997. This increase is likely to continue as a result of several factors: more divorced fathers who desire to continue parenting, greater economic resources available to fathers than to mothers, and more favorable opinions of single fathers. Research on fathers as single parents has been relatively infrequent and generally limited. Yet, the question still remains: Can men “mother”? This question was posed by Barbara Risman, who surveyed fathers about their experiences as homemakers, the nature of the father/child relationship, and their overall role satisfaction. Risman’s major finding was that most men felt comfortable and competent as single parents, regardless of the reason for custody or their financial status. This was true even though four out of five single fathers had no outside housekeeping help, either paid or volunteer. These men felt very close to and very affectionate toward their children, were glad to be fathers, and had little trouble fulfilling the expressive functions of single parenthood. Clearly, successful mothering is not an exclusively female skill. Men can “mother.” Similar support for men as single parents came from a study that examined whether significant differences exist between children reared in single-mother and single-father families. Factors examined included self-perception, self-esteem, social competencies, and the frequency and severity of reported behavioral problems. The historical assumption that single mothers are more effective parents than single fathers was not supported. In a number of ways, fathers who maintain families alone are better situated than their female counterparts. Single-parent fathers typically have higher levels of education, are in the labor force, and are better situated economically. (Eshleman, p. 218) From the information in paragraph one, we understand that the number of single fathers has