In response to the declining birth rate, President Trump recently said he thought that giving mothers a $5,000 “baby bonus” check whenever they gave birth sounded like a good idea. Speaking from experience — I am a mom with three kids — that money won’t go very far. What mothers really need is for the fathers of their kids to step up and parent, much more than they need a one-time check that probably wouldn’t even pay for the birth itself.

The lack of fathers in the home raising their own children or providing the financial support they are obligated to provide is astounding. The number of children in this country who live without a father in the home could fill New York or Los Angeles four times over, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s about one in every four kids. What about child support payments? It’s usually fathers who are ordered by a court to pay it — just 46 percent of families receive the........

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