A dramatic rise in unwed births and the accompanying decline in
marriage are the most important cause of child poverty in the state. As
Chart 1 shows, in 2009, 43.5 percent of single-parent families with
children in Tennessee were poor. In the same year, only 8.1 percent of
married couples with children in the state were poor. Single-parent
families were more than five times more likely to be poor than were
married families.
The
overwhelming majority of poor families with children in Tennessee are
not married. (Overall, more than a third of all families with children
at all income levels in the state are not married.) But a staggering 73
percent of all poor families with children in the state are unmarried.
By contrast, married couples comprise only around one-quarter of poor
families with children in the state. (See Chart 2.)
The
higher poverty rate among single-mother families is caused by two
factors: (1) the lower income caused by the absence of the father from
the home, and (2) the lower average education levels among single
mothers.
Marriage, Education, and Poverty
Births
outside marriage in Tennessee occur predominantly among less-educated
women. In Tennessee, 70.3 percent of births among women who are high
school dropouts are out of wedlock. Among women who are college
graduates, only 7.2 percent of births are out of wedlock. Ironically,
the women most likely to have children without being married are those
who have the least ability to support children on their own.
Tennessee
is splitting into two separate castes. In the top half of the
population, children are raised by married couples with a college
education. In the bottom economic third of the population, children are
raised by single mothers with a high school degree or less.
Policymakers
clearly recognize that education reduces poverty, but they are largely
unaware that marriage is an equally strong anti-poverty weapon. In
Tennessee, married couples with children are 75 percent less likely to
be poor than non-married families with the same level of education. In
fact, a married family headed by a high school dropout in Tennessee is
actually less likely to be poor than a non-married family headed by an
individual with a few years of college.
Marriage, Poverty, and Race
Marriage
substantially reduces the probability of poverty within all racial
groups. For example, in Tennessee, non-married black families are nearly
six times more likely to be poor than married black families.
Non-married Hispanic families are three times more likely to be poor
than married Hispanic families, while non-married white families are
nearly six times more likely to be poor than married white families.
Marital Collapse: Not the Same as Teen Pregnancy
Unwed
childbearing is often erroneously confused with teen pregnancy. In
reality, only 8.6 percent of non-marital births in Tennessee occur to
girls under age 18. Most non-marital births occur to young adult women
in their early 20s. Lack of access to birth control is not a significant
cause of non-marital births.
The Importance of Fathers
The
positive effects of married fathers are not limited to income alone.
Children raised by married parents have substantially better life
outcomes compared to similar children raised in single-parent homes.
When compared to children in intact married homes, children raised by
single parents are more likely to have emotional and behavioral
problems; be physically abused; smoke, drink, and use drugs; be
aggressive; engage in violent, delinquent, and criminal behavior; have
poor school performance; be expelled from school; and drop out of high
school.
[1]
Many of these negative outcomes are associated with the higher poverty
rates of single mothers. In many cases, however, the improvements in
child well-being that are associated with marriage persist even after
adjusting for differences in family income. This indicates that the
father brings more to his home than just a paycheck.
Faulty Policies
Ignoring
the positive impact of marriage on children leads to faulty government
policies. Today,
billions are properly spent on the education of
low-income youth. Billions more are spent each year on means-tested
welfare aid for single mothers. But at present, Tennessee does little or
nothing to discourage unwed births and nothing to encourage and
strengthen healthy marriages.
Tragically, the
critical facts about the importance of marriage in combating poverty are
never communicated to youths at risk for future non-marital births.
Similarly, the state welfare system ignores and disdains the institution
of marriage: In fact, most welfare programs actively penalize
low-income couples who do marry. Tennessee will continue to have high
levels of child poverty, inequality, and welfare dependence as long as
this governmental indifference and hostility to marriage persists.
Ironically, research shows that most unwed parents look favorably on the institution of marriage.
[2]
New policies should be developed that build on these attitudes.
Government should provide factual information to at-risk youth about the
value of marriage. It should also connect low-income couples with
community resources that will help them relearn the skills needed to
develop and sustain healthy marriages before bringing children into the
world. Finally, the state welfare system should be reformed to encourage
rather than discourage marriage.
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