New book draws old conclusions on families
The left can’t handle traditional families being best for children & nation
The attacks on the nuclear family have been around since Adam and Eve.
In the 21st century, the biggest attack on families occurred in June 2015 when a Supreme Court majority redefined marriage to include same-sex marriage. There have been state-level judicial decisions for polyamorous relationships, and a growing movement to normalize pedophilia.
When an economist uses economic data showing the benefits of two-parent homes, people take notice. Melissa Kearney’s book, “The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind,” has generated editorials and book reviews. It demands the attention of lawmakers and all Americans.
Why? Our nation rises and falls on the strength of traditional families.
Kearney, an economics professor at the University of Maryland College Park, published the book mid-September focused on the economic impacts of families. The benefits of fathers and mothers in the home are overwhelming and compelling.
City Journal published Kay Hymowitz’s book review of Kearney’s work. The book focuses on family measures known for some time, including:
Single mothers have less money and time for their children, with a higher risk of poverty and welfare dependence;
The rise of single-parent homes has increased and entrenched economic and social inequality;
Boys are more likely to have academic and behavioral problems without their fathers, with stepfathers not improving that;
Growing up in a single-mother household is linked with poorer college completion, as well as a diminished likelihood of marrying or staying married upon reaching adulthood.
Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash
Also, the main driver of a life of crime and violence is family dysfunction. A Heritage Foundation study reported in 1995:
The scholarly evidence, in short, suggests that at the heart of the explosion of crime in America is the loss of the capacity of fathers and mothers to be responsible in caring for the children they bring into the world. This loss of love and guidance at the intimate levels of marriage and family has broad social consequences for children and for the wider community.
A brief digression, though. Divorce is real, and it has impacted countless families. There are multiple reasons for it. I was raised by a single mother separated by the death of my father, not divorce. I have walked in the shoes of a family raised by a single Mother because my Mom never remarried. I can testify to the goodness of God, even in hard times.
As expected, Kearney’s book has thrown the left into fits of bizarre justifications. Left-wing author and attorney Jill Filipovic responded to Kearney at cnn.com. She says the problem with marriage is an ideological one. Filipovic wrote September 27:
A closer look at the facts on the ground, though, shows that the problem isn’t a cultural rejection of marriage, or a nationwide feminist rejection of the nuclear family (I wish). Most people want to get married. The problem is that decades of largely conservative policy-making have fueled inequality, gutted the working class, left a generation of men isolated and under-employed and unmoored, impoverished families and made it harder for women to both control their own fertility and find suitable partners.
Filipovic has a theory in search of evidence, and that’s where it dies.
American trends reveal cohabitation is favored over marriage, with cohabitation equally unstable for the couple and any children from the relationship. In 2021, the Pew Research Center reported the following:
Americans’ marital and living arrangements have changed considerably over the 30 years. The share of adults ages 25 to 54 who are currently married fell from 67% in 1990 to 53% in 2019, while the share cohabiting more than doubled over that same period (from 4% in 1990 to 9% in 2019). The share who have never been married has also grown – from 17% to 33%. All of this churn has resulted in a significant increase in the share who are unpartnered.
Marriage rates also have dropped. The Census Bureau reported in July: “In 2021, the U.S. marriage rate was 14.9 marriages in the last year per 1,000 women, down from 16.3 a decade earlier.”
However, if you dig into studies and anecdotal news reporting, one can see some mindsets developing within Gen Z and Millennials. Part of the change with marriage is the lower priority these younger Americans have on families. Social media and woke politics are also factors.
Steve Mosher, the lead demographer of the Population Research Institute revealed a changing attitude, as The Free Press reported, “The expectation 50 years ago was that everyone would eventually get married and have children. Now, that expectation is gone.”
The Survey Center on American Life found the following in February: “The arrival of social media, smartphones, and dating apps upended the American dating scene, changing how young adults approach dating and relationships.”
The Free Press reported in its article some men were dropping out of dating because of unrealistic expectations from females. The contention is modern young women promote 666, not the anti-Christ, rather a guy’s height, bank account digits, and his size below the belt. Some young men have given up because they fail to meet expectations.
Journalist and author Jon Birger said, “When college-educated women restrict their dating pool to college-educated men, they are effectively limiting themselves to a too-small dating pool. And if you exclude firemen, electricians, plumbers, and other folks that don’t have a college degree, you may be excluding people that you would actually really click with romantically.”
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported in 2022 the reluctance of Gen Z and Millennials to become parents. The article reveals young adults wringing their hands over altered expectations, student loan debt, and climate change.
Filipovic’s theory is dreadfully off target.
And unless the current trend changes, there will be much fewer taxpayers to spread the long-term burden of trillions in debt as far as the eye can see.
The ramifications will be real, impacting families and wallets for generations.