Marriage Interest: Why the feds should promote marriage

Patrick Fagan

What interest does government have in whether people get and stay married? Plenty, actually.

Mothers who never marry are abused at three times the rate of married, separated, and divorced couples combined. Children are six times more likely to be abused in a step-family, 13 times more likely in a family with a single mother living alone, 20 times more likely in a cohabiting natural family, and 33 times more likely if they live with their natural mother and a boyfriend who isn't their father.

Children from broken homes have more out-of-wedlock births, co-habitations and divorces. They are three times more likely to end up in jail. Statistical analysis shows that the huge differences in crime rates between white juveniles and black juveniles are not a matter of race; they can be traced mainly to the presence or absence of intact marriages between their parents.

For the complete article go to the National Review Online website.