This is an all-time high as more Americans struggle to form and maintain marriages. What does this mean for kids and families?
- Many more births are occurring among unwed mothers. About 40 percent of all births in the United States now occur to unmarried women, compared to less than 10 percent in 1960.
- An increase in poverty. The poverty rate among single mothers with less than a high school diploma is over 45%.
- Many more births are occurring in cohabiting households. You can read here about the negative effect this has on children.
- Health issues. Unmarried or divorced adults have 20 percent more chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer than married people.
- Crime. 70% of inmates in state juvenile detention centers serving long-term sentences were raised by single mothers. 72% of juvenile murderers and 60% of rapists come from single mother homes. 70% of teenage births, dropouts, suicides, runaways, juvenile delinquents, and child murderers involve children raised by single mothers.
- Finances. A 2008 study led by Georgia State University economist Benjamin Scafidi found that single mothers — unwed or divorced — cost US taxpayers $112 billion every year.”
- Domestic violence. Women who have never been married are more than twice as likely to be victims of domestic violence as married women.”
"The disappearance of marriage in Middle America would endanger the American Dream, the emotional and social welfare of children, and the stability of the social fabric in thousands of communities across the country."
Professor Brad Wilcox, Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia.
Professor Brad Wilcox, Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia.
The bottom line:
Like never before, we must champion God's golden standard for the family. A married couple raising children together.
