Dad debunks the patriarchal claim that 70% of sons of single mothers end up in jail

'Kids raised by single mothers end up in jail at staggeringly high rates' is a statement we've heard quite a few times from the mouths of so-called yet mostly followed male influencers. People go to a degree of believing it as a fact with 'statistics' and 'research' backing it up. However, one father is here to eradicate this myth. Brent—who goes by @expatriarch on TikTok—points out that such information is utterly fallacious and deeply rooted in misogyny. Growing up with an absent father has undeniable consequences for children.

The death, divorce, abandonment, or even emotional absence of a parent can be traumatic. However, the widely held belief that 70 to 80 percent of children raised by single mothers end up in jail is untrue. Most 'alpha males' on the internet like to portray this claim as objective truth. This father has had enough of this false information being spread and deconstructed it in an eye-opening TikTok video that garnered more than a million views.

Brent's video begins with a series of recent clips of these types of male influencers and podcasters claiming that single mothers are "the worst parents of all." "These aren't facts," Brent says, "they're just things you made up to justify your feelings."

According to the Department of Justice, as of 2021, there were approximately 1.2 million people incarcerated in the United States, as Brent mentions in his video. The Annie E. Casey Foundation estimates that there are currently 24 million children living in single-parent households. Brent uses the rough midpoint of this range in his video to demonstrate how the 70-80% claim makes no sense. Brent emphasizes that the specifics of these claims, made mostly by men vary to a large degree.

"Seventy percent of the estimated 19 million children raised in single-mother homes would be about 13 million." Given that there are only 1.2 million people in prison, 70-80% is "an absurdly wrong number." He added, "We're not sure if it's 70% or if it's 80% if it represents all prisoners, just young men, or only Black men. However, what we do know [according to these inaccurate claims] is that prisons are full of young men from single-mother homes, and the womenfolk are to blame for it."

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 70% of juvenile delinquents come from single-parent homes, including children raised by their fathers, as well as children raised by other relatives or in foster care. Single-parent households accounted for only 54% of juvenile delinquents overall, including single fathers. But, as Brent points out, the figure has been misrepresented in addition to being 35 years out of date.

"Since your lifetime incarceration risk is about 5%, what that means is instead of 70% of children raised by single mothers going to jail, actually, well over 80% will avoid ever seeing a jail," he said. Children raised by single fathers have the highest rates of incarceration, especially once their father finds a new girlfriend or remarries. According to a University of Nebraska-Lincoln study cited in Brent's TikTok, 40% of single fathers abandon their children within eight years — a rate that skyrockets when the single father finds a new partner.

Brent concludes it well, "If we really care about improving childhood outcomes, then we need to stop talking about single mothers and instead talk about... fathers that treat their children as disposable." As many misogynist podcasters today like to say, "Facts don't care about your feelings." Also, don't forget to apply cold water to that burnt area. Never mind, that might not help either.