LIFE WITHOUT FATHER

Nearly one in four American children live in fatherless families, according to a new study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Data in the foundation's sixth annual Kids Count Data Book shows that the number of children growing up without fathers has quadrupled since 1950, when only 6 percent of families did not include a father. TIME Society senior editor Lee Aitken says that although thesocial forcesthat contribute to the number of fatherless families are complex,economic factorshave played a large role. "People have to look at the decline of real wages and the very high unemployment rate among young black and hispanic men." The study notes that from 1972 to 1994 the median income of all men 25 to 34 fell by an inflation-adjusted 26 percent.