Weird Parenting Science

The conventional wisdom says children of two-parent families are less likely to have unfortunate outcomes, more likely to thrive. Indeed the science showing that true is solid. Does it provide prima facie evidence of the value of a father in the home? Perhaps not, see what a RealClearPolicy article says:

The problems associated with single motherhood show up far less when a father dies, which suggests that the absence of a father in itself isn't the problem.

This statement infers that the emotional upheaval attendant upon a father absconding generates more problems than does the absence of the man himself. An interesting place to study father absence would be among maritime families whose fathers spend months at a time at sea away from the family.