It's the economy...

That phrase has had a life of its own since the Presidential campaign of 1992. It reminded us about what was key.
For Family Ministry it might be rephrased: "It's the father...". I've seen various statistics from various sources but they all reinforce the same thing: Dad's are critical to passing on the faith in a way that sticks.
The Swiss carried out an interesting study. A Dad active in the faith carries the day overwhelming when it comes to children who follow in their footsteps... well, when you put it that way, it works both ways. They follow them into an active faith or they follow them into an inactive faith/no faith.

Perhaps Children's Ministry should be more about Father's Ministry.

Here is a short bit from the study:

If both father and mother attend regularly, 33 percent of their children will end up as regular churchgoers, and 41 percent will end up attending irregularly. Only a quarter of their children will end up not practicing at all. If the father is irregular and mother regular, only 3 percent of the children will subsequently become regulars themselves, while a further 59 percent will become irregulars. Thirty-eight percent will be lost.

If the father is non-practicing and mother regular, only 2 percent of children will become regular worshippers, and 37 percent will attend irregularly. Over 60 percent of their children will be lost completely to the church.