Broken Family
No. 1283
June 11, 1999
HOW BROKEN FAMILIES ROB CHILDREN OF THEIR CHANCES FOR FUTURE PROSPERITY
PATRICK F. FAGAN
Much of the debate about the growing gap between rich and poor in America focuses on the changing job force, the cost of living, and the tax and regulatory structure that hamstrings businesses and employees. But analysis of the social science literature demonstrates that the root cause of poverty and income disparity is linked undeniably to the presence or absence of marriage. Broken families earn less and experience lower levels of educational achievement. Worse, they pass the prospect of meager incomes and family instability on to their children, making the effects intergenerational. A child’s path to achieving a decent income as an adult—and avoiding the poverty trap—is still the traditional one: complete school, get a job, get married, and have children, in that order. Obviously, a stable income cannot be guaranteed; ultimately, children’s own decisions affect their income potential, and dropping out of school, taking drugs, or having children early and outside of marriage could derail their progress at any time. Beyond those decisions, however, studies show that income disparity in America is affected most by the stability of a child’s home environment— primarily, whether that child has married parents or is part of a broken family. Consider: • In 1950, 12 out of every 100 children born entered a broken family; by 1992, 58 out of every 100 children born entered a broken Produced by family. The Domestic Policy Studies
Department
•
Children living with a single mother are six Published by times more likely to live The Heritage Foundation 214 Massachusetts Ave., N.E. in poverty than are Washington, D.C. children whose parents 20002–4999 are married. (202) 546-4400 Of families with children in the lowest quintile of earnings, 73 percent are headed by single parents; 95 percent in the top quintile are headed by married couples.
June 11, 1999
HOW BROKEN FAMILIES ROB CHILDREN OF THEIR CHANCES FOR FUTURE PROSPERITY
PATRICK F. FAGAN
Much of the debate about the growing gap between rich and poor in America focuses on the changing job force, the cost of living, and the tax and regulatory structure that hamstrings businesses and employees. But analysis of the social science literature demonstrates that the root cause of poverty and income disparity is linked undeniably to the presence or absence of marriage. Broken families earn less and experience lower levels of educational achievement. Worse, they pass the prospect of meager incomes and family instability on to their children, making the effects intergenerational. A child’s path to achieving a decent income as an adult—and avoiding the poverty trap—is still the traditional one: complete school, get a job, get married, and have children, in that order. Obviously, a stable income cannot be guaranteed; ultimately, children’s own decisions affect their income potential, and dropping out of school, taking drugs, or having children early and outside of marriage could derail their progress at any time. Beyond those decisions, however, studies show that income disparity in America is affected most by the stability of a child’s home environment— primarily, whether that child has married parents or is part of a broken family. Consider: • In 1950, 12 out of every 100 children born entered a broken family; by 1992, 58 out of every 100 children born entered a broken Produced by family. The Domestic Policy Studies
Department
•
Children living with a single mother are six Published by times more likely to live The Heritage Foundation 214 Massachusetts Ave., N.E. in poverty than are Washington, D.C. children whose parents 20002–4999 are married. (202) 546-4400 Of families with children in the lowest quintile of earnings, 73 percent are headed by single parents; 95 percent in the top quintile are headed by married couples.
References: June 11, 1999 Chart 15 June 11, 1999 female heads of families responded to income guarantees by significantly reducing their work effort