The scandal and heartache of teen pregnancy has been exploited by producers of popular prime-time TV, who have made stories of 16-year-olds stumbling through accelerated adolescence into marketable drama. Likewise, news media have scrutinized the teen birth phenomenon for some time. The truly shocking and underreported story, however, is that of unmarried 20-something parents. While 21 percent of children born outside of marriage are to teen mothers, more than 60 percent of unwed births occur to women in their 20s. It is not the young girls studying for the SAT …
With the recently released numbers regarding poverty levels in America, public concern is heightened, in particular, regarding the plight of America’s impoverished children. This concern should generate a focus on what might empower them to rise up from poverty—and, in turn, what factors promote stable marriages. Research clearly indicates that one of the most important factors in a child’s welfare is whether she is born to married parents. Children raised by single parents are seven times more likely to live in poverty than peers in families with two married parents. …
In the midst of election primaries, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held a day-long conference yesterday in Washington at the National Press Club titled “A New Era – Defining Civil Rights in the 21st Century.” There was a remarkably wide breadth of speakers, including columnist William Raspberry, Clarence B. Jones (former counsel and speechwriter for Martin Luther King), Roger Clegg (Center for Equal Opportunity), and Heather MacDonald (Manhattan Institute). Considering the conference topic — discrimination and racial disparities — the civility and intelligence of the discussions and debates was …
A recent comment by actress Jennifer Aniston that “women are more and more realizing that they don’t have to settle with a man just to have that child” might seem to indicate that deviancy has irrevocably been “defined down” and that a culture of permissiveness has been permanently entrenched in our nation’s society. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the percentage of teens who believe that it’s okay for an unmarried female to have a child has increased to nearly 64 percent (among males) and to more …
A wedding ring on Dad’s finger is more than a symbol of his commitment to Mom. It also proves to be the ultimate anti-poverty weapon for their children. Now that’s something to celebrate and encourage this Father’s Day. It’s fitting on Sunday to honor all the fathers who strive to keep that commitment, even when they grow weary. “The principal cause of child poverty in the U.S. is the absence of married fathers in the home,” Robert Rector, senior research fellow in domestic policy studies at The Heritage Foundation, writes …
Speaking at Heritage, Rebecca Hagelin, author of 30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family, shared some startling news with us about the decline of families in America. A point that she brought up is that when people can’t depend on their family, they turn to the government for dependence. A report from CNN started that 40% of children are born outside of wedlock. This is an alarming trend. According to our FamilyFacts.org web site’s Top 10 findings for December 2008, married families are much better off financially than …
