National Fatherhood Initiative

The National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) is a nonprofit organization that provides public education, conducts research, and offers capacity-building programming in the interest of promoting “involved, responsible, and committed fatherhood.” The organization was formed and operates on the premise that the lack of a father in a family increases the likelihood of risk factors and negative outcomes for children, and in fact fatherlessness is the primary risk factor. Increasing the participation of fathers in families is seen as the best prevention for major risk factors and negative outcomes in childhood.

NFI identifies the lack of father involvement in a child’s life as a primary risk factor for child poverty, using U.S. Census data comparing rates of poverty in married families versus single-mother households. According to this data, ...