Good marriage = good fathers

LOS ANGELES, June 17 (UPI) -- There is a positive correlation between marital quality and the quality of the father-child relationship, the California Healthy Marriages Coalition says.

The California Healthy Marriages Coalition, an online clearinghouse on marriage and relationship strengthening resources, which also provides marriage classes, says both parents bring balance to a child's physical and emotional welfare, but more than 100 studies say fathers may be more important than mothers in the lives of their children.

In a country where the divorce rate remains close to 50 percent, these are important points to ponder this Father's Day.

"The best predictor of father presence is marital status," a report from the Institute for American Values says. The report says when a father's romantic relationship with the child's mother ends, this often ends his involvement with their children as well.

"Children with involved, loving fathers are significantly more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem, exhibit empathy and pro-social behavior compared to children who have uninvolved fathers," reports the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

K. Jason Krafsky, director of communications and marketing for the California Healthy Marriages Coalition and co-author of "Facebook and Your Marriage," says: "The quality of the relationship with my wife, how we communicate, work as a team and express intimacy, model for our kids what a healthy marriage is and give them a better chance of having one themselves in the future."