How and why we need to strengthen two-parent families in the U.S.

[BradStevens]

The data and analysis here is both persuasive and concerning. In 1950, 5% of children were born out of wedlock. Today, it's nearly 50%, despite the fact that teen and unwanted pregnancies are down across classifications. This might be the most important economic issue of our time, and cuts across many of the other problems we have today.

Some interesting bits from the pod:

Boys are more susceptible to not getting enough attention at home and then acting out at school, leading to serious punishments and less learning. (Girls are senstive, too, but typically internalize it and have low self esteem as a result).

We might have less of a sense of duty in our society due to notions of liberty and freedom. This is a long held attack on classic liberalism from social conservatives.

The group hurt most by this are the women with high school degrees having kids and not marrying. And this class and the least well off are the ones doing this in the greatest numbers.

I think all of this has been argued before on here, but this book and interview put some data behind those arguments.

Latest Episodes | Honestly Podcast

www.honestlypod.com

 

[dbmhoosier]

What incentive is their for Democrats to fix this problem?

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

The data and analysis here is both persuasive and concerning. In 1950, 5% of children were born out of wedlock. Today, it's nearly 50%, despite the fact that teen and unwanted pregnancies are down across classifications. This might be the most important economic issue of our time, and cuts across many of the other problems we have today.

Some interesting bits from the pod:

Boys are more susceptible to not getting enough attention at home and then acting out at school, leading to serious punishments and less learning. (Girls are senstive, too, but typically internalize it and have low self esteem as a result).

We might have less of a sense of duty in our society due to notions of liberty and freedom. This is a long held attack on classic liberalism from social conservatives.

The group hurt most by this are the women with high school degrees having kids and not marrying. And this class and the least well off are the ones doing this in the greatest numbers.

I think all of this has been argued before on here, but this book and interview put some data behind those arguments.

Latest Episodes | Honestly Podcast

www.honestlypod.com

I used to make this argument often here. The data is clear that two parent families are best for children and society. We need to strongly incentivize that construct and not incentivize single parent situations.

I came from a broken family. Of course, I’ve done well and so did my sister, but it wasn’t easy and there are plenty of mental scars. Probably much more for my sister, but I have some too. Our lives very easily could have gone different directions.

 

[snarlcakes]

My two suggestions are cut back on welfare (stop incentivizing it) and more people become Christians (both of those ideas are dead upon arrival). I doubt I’d be married if I was agnostic or an atheist.

 

[Cortez88]

My two suggestions are cut back on welfare (stop incentivizing it) and more people become Christians (both of those ideas are dead upon arrival). I doubt I’d be married if I was agnostic or an atheist.

Why do you doubt you’d be married? We are a mass going family here, but we have many family friends who are not religious but still enjoy a happy and stable married family life.

 

[Willdog7]

What incentive is their for Democrats to fix this problem?

Why does it have to be a demo problem, there are GOP OUT OF WEDLOCK BIRTHS ALSO.

 

[Willdog7]

I have an idea,how about working our problems together,not blaming the other. no thats an novel idea.

 

[Cthulhu85]

My question is, is it women who don't want to get married or men not wanting to take the risk?

 

[snarlcakes]

Why do you doubt you’d be married? We are a mass going family here, but we have many family friends who are not religious but still enjoy a happy and stable married family life.

It’s my personality. I look at marriage as a covenant. Honor, honesty, and integrity are vitally important to myself and stems from my beliefs. If I thought there was no God and we were just apes with highly developed brains, I’d wouldn’t view marriage as that important and wouldn’t make the sacrifices necessary to stay married.

 

[hoot1]

My question is, is it women who don't want to get married or men not wanting to take the risk?

My wife would say it is men who want sexual pleasure without all the downsides such as pregnancy and being the mother of an illegitimate child.

 

[UncleMark]

I think all of this has been argued before on here, but this book and interview put some data behind those arguments.

I've listened to the author recently. (She's also a babe.) She doesn't offer much in the way of solutions.

After Words with Melissa Kearney

Economist Melissa Kearney argues that the decline in two-parent married households is a driving factor in many of America's economic issues. She was interviewed by American Enterprise Institute's Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility director Scott Winship.

www.c-span.org

 

[Morrison]

I've listened to the author recently. (She's also a babe.) She doesn't offer much in the way of solutions.

After Words with Melissa Kearney

Economist Melissa Kearney argues that the decline in two-parent married households is a driving factor in many of America's economic issues. She was interviewed by American Enterprise Institute's Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility director Scott Winship.

www.c-span.org

She’s kinda hot. I didn’t listen.

 

[GigGoo]

Someone has a crush on Bari Weiss. Anyone have the guts to inform Brad that her clock don’t tick like that?

 

[zeke4ahs]

My two suggestions are cut back on welfare (stop incentivizing it) and more people become Christians (both of those ideas are dead upon arrival). I doubt I’d be married if I was agnostic or an atheist.

What in the world does that have to do with it? If it’s just religion, you do know there are others besides Christianity?

 

[Hoopsdoc1978]

We might have less of a sense of duty in our society due to notions of liberty and freedom. This is a long held attack on classic liberalism from social conservatives.

Can you elaborate on what you mean with this paragraph?

 

[BradStevens]

Ooh I've listened to the author recently. (She's also a babe.) She doesn't offer much in the way of solutions.

After Words with Melissa Kearney

Economist Melissa Kearney argues that the decline in two-parent married households is a driving factor in many of America's economic issues. She was interviewed by American Enterprise Institute's Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility director Scott Winship.

www.c-span.org

 

[BradStevens]

Someone has a crush on Bari Weiss. Anyone have the guts to inform Brad that her clock don’t tick like that?

 

[BradStevens]

Can you elaborate on what you mean with this paragraph?

The author and Weiss posit that we have a society that values duty to something outside ourselves much less than in the past. So men especially but women too feel less bound to sacrifice their happiness to stay in a marriage to do well by their kids.

For hundreds of years, there has been a push back against classic liberalism that values the individual first, above the society or religion or whatever group.

Those pushing back I refer to as social conservatives ( although today there is also push back from academic liberal communitarians and also identity-politics types).

They usually point out that human institutions develop that demand duties from individuals and yes that limits freedom and liberty of a sort but that people are better off anyway. Or that people achieve a higher form of freedom from following the duty.