June is the month many American families celebrate Father’s Day — but thanks to progressive politicians and policies, the number of us who observe the occasion is declining precipitously. Father’s Day has always fallen short of generating the attention, sentimentality or commercial activity of Mother’s Day. So many children in America now live in single-parent, mother-only households that fatherlessness is, like the crisis at our southern border, a disaster progressive Democrats ignore, deny and avoid.

Fatherlessness is one of the most debilitating domestic issues confronting our country. Almost 20 million children in America live in fatherless households. Approximately 40% of all live births in our country are to single mothers, and 90% of welfare recipients are single mothers. To make matters worse, children of single mothers are five times more likely to grow up in poverty than those of married couples.

Fatherlessness is a major contributing factor in significant domestic problems including drug abuse, gun violence, child abuse, sexual abuse, chronic unemployment, homelessness and suicide. This being the case, one might think the Democratic Party would use its control of the House of Representatives, Senate and White House to actively pursue solutions for fatherlessness. Sadly, they refuse to take up the issue. Why? Because progressive Democratic policies not only encourage fatherlessness, but they also foment it.

When Vice President Kamala Harris made her ill-fated trip to Mexico and Guatemala, she talked about dealing with the “root causes” of illegal immigration. She repeated the term so often even her devoted mainstream media mavens grew weary of hearing it. If our vice president and her party are truly interested in dealing with the “root causes” of the problems facing our country, fatherlessness should be at the top of their to-do list. Solve the fatherless problem, and you go a long way toward solving other domestic problems.

Consider how fatherlessness contributes to the cultural degradation afflicting American society. The overwhelming majority of mass shooters, homeless youth, runaways, youth suicide victims, youth drug abusers, rapists, child abusers and incarcerated youth grew up in fatherless families. Fatherless children drop out of high school and experience behavioral disorders at rates more than double those of their counterparts from two-parent families. If Harris really wants to talk about the “root causes” of issues facing America, fatherlessness would be a good place to start.

In examining the fatherless problem, you don’t get far before running squarely into some evidence “woke” Democrats deem off limits. One of the inconvenient facts Democrats sweep under the rug is a major cause of fatherless families in America: our broken, ubiquitous welfare system. Originally envisioned as a temporary safety net to tide families over during hard times, under President Lyndon Johnson, welfare became a way of life — not to mention a way to create a solid voting block for Democrats.

Over the years, Johnson’s progressive Democratic successors have significantly increased the pay, benefits and duration for welfare recipients. Today, living on the government dole, once viewed as a temporary safety net, has evolved into a permanent way of life. Government welfare checks have all but eliminated the dignity of work. Worse yet, it is a way of life passed from generation to generation.

Rather than solve poverty, welfare perpetuates it. That’s because most welfare programs discourage marriage. Single mothers on welfare who get married run the risk of losing their child support entitlement. In welfare circles, this is known as the “man in the house rule.” In other words, welfare encourages fatherlessness by paying mothers to remain single and to have additional fatherless children. If “progressives” really want to reduce gun violence, child abuse, drug abuse, sexual abuse and youth suicide, they can start by reducing fatherlessness.

COPYRIGHT 2021 OLIVER L. NORTH AND DAVID L. GOETSCH