**TITLE** Father absence and consequences for reproductive behavior and psychosocial development among Caribbean, Caribbean-Dutch and native Dutch youth (FAB) **FUNDING** Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) **DURATION** 01/09/2017-28/02/2023 **PROJECT NUMBER** ALWCA.2016.018 **SUMMARY** From an evolutionary perspective, father involvement in child rearing has been necessary for the survival and social development of the offspring. Consequently, father absence may be detrimental for offspring health and wellbeing, at least in Western societies where social networks that replace the father are rare. Father absence influences youths’ development (e.g. reproduction, maturation, problem behaviors, educational attainment), and though boys are neglected in the scientific literature, different effects appear to be present for boys and girls. Moreover, the impact of father absence on youths’ development likely varies with the extent to which father absence is considered deviant by sociocultural standards or constitutes a normative family form, like it does in many Caribbean societies. The question is, how do consequences of father absence compare across cultures? Moreover, ongoing migration from the Caribbean region where father absence is common to countries like the Netherlands, where it constitutes a minority, means that conflicting sociocultural standards add to the migration challenge.