I was looking for an explanation.
Both in AP classes in high school and my PhD classes currently, the mix of fatherless children was about the same at around 30%.
Several students had neither and where raised by grandparents. One student had no family. He was a soldier in Liberia as a youth, and bought his freedom or somehow was free to move to America.
http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/features/withoutmen/popenoe.html
The possible detrimental effects of father absence on his children include drug involvement, increased delinquency, and gang activity, which in turn pose problems for society. Studies have shown disruptions in family structure, such as father absence, may increase the chances the child will begin using drugs and alcohol
In addition to drug and alcohol related problems, fatherless boys often display problematic behavior in areas such as social interaction and school involvement (Popenoe, p. 62). A study conducted in 1979, called the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, revealed that children who lack fathers are twice as likely to leave school (McLanahan, p. 86).
http://www.unc.edu/~dcderosa/STUDENTPAPERS/Social_Sciences_Film/BoysnhoodJennifer/ssunitproject8.htm
Children in father-absent homes are five times more likely to be poor. In 2002, 7.8 percent of children in married-couple families were living in poverty, compared to 38.4 percent of children in female-householder families.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Children’s Living Arrangements and Characteristics: March 2002, P200-547, Table C8. Washington D.C.: GPO, 2003.
A study of 13,986 women in prison showed that more than half grew up without their father. Forty-two percent grew up in a single-mother household and sixteen percent lived with neither parent. (Fathers and Daughters)
Source: Snell, Tracy L and Danielle C. Morton. Women in Prison: Survey of Prison Inmates, 1991. Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, 1994: 4.
https://www.fatherhood.org/father_factor.asp
just google in' growing up without a father' you'll get tons of stuff