Marriage: America's greatest weapon against child poverty. A Heritage Foundation book of charts. Read More.
Child poverty is an ongoing national concern, but few are aware that its principal cause is the absence of married fathers in the home. Read More.
In 2001, 1.35 million children were born outside marriage. This represents 33.5 percent of all children born in the United States in that year. Children raised by never-married mothers are seven times more likely to be poor when compared to children raised in intact married families. Read More.
Abstract: Government anti-poverty programs share the flawed assumption that poverty in America is primarily a material problem that can be solved by increased welfare and entitlement spending. Poverty in America is often the result of a relational problem, such as fatherlessness or community breakdown,…
Robert Rector discusses the correlation between poverty and the unwed birthrate. …
The mainstream media, liberal politicians, activists, and academia bewail child poverty in the U.S. But in these ritual lamentations, one key fact remains hidden: The principal cause of child poverty in the U.S. is the absence of married fathers in the home. According to the U.S…
Robert Rector, Senior Research Fellow for Welfare Policy at The Heritage Foundation, discusses how President-elect Obama can keep his pledge to reverse the decline of marriage in the United States, thereby reducing child poverty, welfare dependence,…
[C]hildren living with single mothers are five times more likely to be poor than children in two-parent households. Children in single-parent homes are also more likely to drop out of school and become teen parents, even when income is factored out. And the evidence suggests that on average, children who live with their biological mother…
Christine Kim talks about family facts for the month of October.…
Delivered January 30, 2007 It's an honor to be speaking at the Heritage Foundation, but I confess to feeling a bit fraudulent. Heritage is home to some of the giants in the field of family and poverty research; I'm thinking especially of Pat Fagan and…
This may sound odd, but as we mark the 10-year anniversary of the passage of the historic welfare reform act, we really ought to honor one of the men who opposed this legislation when it came before the U.S. Senate. For long before the late Sen. Daniel Patrick…
(Delivered May 22, 2006) JENNIFER A. MARSHALL: This is the first in a series of events that will focus on the tenth anniversary of the welfare reform of 1996. One of the most important features of…
Statement of Robert Rector Senior Research Fellow Domestic Policy Studies The Heritage Foundation Before the Sub-committee on Human Resources Of the Committee on Ways and Means U.S. House…
In 2001, 1.35 million children were born outside marriage. This represents 33.5 percent of all children born in the United States in that year. Children raised by never-married mothers are seven times more likely to be poor when compared to children raised in intact married families. The obvious nexus…
The 1960s War on poverty was intended to eliminate child poverty nationwide through a variety of income transfers and human development programs. However, during the first three decades of the War on poverty, there was little net decline in the child poverty rate. In 1965 (the year when the first War on poverty programs…
Marriage is good for men, women, children--and society. Because of this simple fact, President George W. Bush has proposed a new pilot program to promote healthy marriage. Despite demonstrated evidence in every major social policy area of the need to rebuild a strong and healthy culture of marriage, President Bush's new marriage initiative is…
The erosion of marriage has created enormous difficulties for children, parents, and society. Today, one child in three is born out of wedlock. Compared to children born within marriage, children born outside of marriage are…
Ever since Alexis de Tocqueville, foreign observers have consistently noted that the United States is one of the most religious countries on the face of the planet. Year after year, Gallup polls reveal that nearly 90 percent of all Americans consider religion either "very important" or "fairly important"--and even those who don't regard…
The erosion of marriage has created enormous difficulties for children, parents, and society. Today, one child in three is born out of wedlock. Compared to children born within marriage, children born outside of marriage are overwhelmingly more likely to live in poverty, depend on welfare, and have behavior problems. They are also more…
This paper examines the factors that are most likely to contribute to healthy marriages among low-income couples. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing survey, we analyzed couples who were unmarried at the time of their child's birth, but who subsequently married within the first year after that…
The erosion of marriage throughout the past four decades has had large-scale negative effects on both children and adults and lies at the heart of many social problems with which government currently grapples. The beneficial effects of marriage on individuals and society are beyond reasonable dispute, and there is a broad and growing…
The erosion of marriage over the past four decades has had large-scale negative effects on children and adults and lies at the heart of many social problems with which government is currently grappling. The beneficial effects of marriage, both for individuals and for society, are beyond reasonable dispute, and…
Marriage is good for men, women, children--and society. Because of this simple fact, President George W. Bush has proposed a new pilot program to promote healthy marriage. Yet the President's initiative is opposed by radical feminists who seek to undermine what they call the "patriarchal family." As feminist leader Betty Friedan has…
Nearly 40 percent of women in the United States have never been married, an all-time high, according to new data from...…
Children in Indiana born to single parents are more than six times more likely to live in poverty than children born to...…
Yesterday, The Heritage Foundation and the Georgia Family Council co-hosted an event in Atlanta illustrating the...…
The critical importance of committed fatherhood to the well-being of children is the theme of “Courageous,” the...…
A new chart from Heritage FamilyFacts.org bears good news: Recent marriages are lasting longer. This is great for...…
For many Americans, poverty is hidden from view, and its reality is conveniently tucked out of sight and out of mind in...…
On Tuesday, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced that U.S. teen birth rates dropped to their...…
A recent New York Times article points out that divorce rates—once highest in metropolitan, big city areas—are now...…
On Thursday, The Washington Post heralded the findings of a new survey reporting on sexual activity in the United...…
The decline of marriage in recent years not only signals trouble for the men and women missing out on the stability of...…