Mama Says: A National Survey of Mothers’ Attitudes on Fathering

According to a new report by the National Fatherhood Initiative, mothers report that stable, well-functioning marriages are extremely important to good fathering, yet over half of mothers say fathers are replaceable by single mothers and nearly two-thirds of mothers say that fathers are replaceable by other men. The report also reveals the important role played by work/family balance in shaping modern fatherhood.

On December 1, the National Fatherhood Initiative released “Mama Says: A National Survey of Mothers’ Attitudes on Fathering” at an event sponsored by the Center on Children and Families at Brookings. The event featured the report’s authors, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead of Rutgers University and Norval Glenn of the University of Texas. A panel of practitioners, state officials, and scholars offered their views on these and other findings of the survey.

Speakers and panelists also took questions from the audience.