What's Wrong With Single-Parent Families?
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It is not obvious that two
parents are always better than one. There are circumstances where one parent
is better, especially if the absent parent was abusive. However, scholarly
studies show that single parenting increases the likelihood of poverty
and welfare dependency. Moreover, children of single parents are more likely
to have psychological problems, fail to achieve their educational potential
and turn to crime -- especially within the culture of poverty.
Single Parenting, Poverty and Welfare. Those who choose to be single
parents are more likely to be poor; those who are poor are more likely
to turn to welfare; and welfare enables and sustains the choice to be a
single parent. Statisticians and econometricians have had difficulty sorting
out the causal links of this complex cycle, but the general associations
are evident.
- The poverty rate for female-headed households with children is 44.5
percent, compared to 7.8 percent for married couples with children. 53
- The poverty rate for children under age 6 who live with only their
mother is 66 percent compared to 12 percent for those who live with both
parents. 54
- Overall, single-parent families account for 65 percent of poor families
with children and over half of all poor families. 55
Moreover, the children of single parents are more likely to be part
of the welfare system.
- Almost 70 percent of single-parent families with children and more
than 80 percent of never-married mothers receive some government assistance. 56
- As result, more than one child in eight is being raised on welfare
through the AFDC program, up by 50 percent since 1970. 57
Long-Term Dependency. Of the 4.5 million households currently receiving
AFDC, well over half will depend on the program for over 10 years and many
for 15 years or longer. 58 Studies show that single-parent families are
far likelier to remain poor and dependent over the long term.
- Former Harvard University Professor David Ellwood, now Assistant Secretary
for Planning and Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, reports that 73 percent of children in single-parent families
will be poor at some point in their childhood, compared to 20 percent of
those in two-parent families. 59
- Ellwood also reports that 22 percent of children in one-parent families
will be poor for seven years or more, compared to only 2 percent from two-parent
families. 60
- Moreover, single parenting is associated with intergenerational dependency:
children raised in single-parent families are three times more likely to
become welfare recipients as adults. 61
Psychological Effects on Children. Other things equal, two parents are
better than one for the healthy psychological development of children.
- Children from single-parent homes tend to fall behind in educational
achievement, perform poorly on standardized tests and indicate lower IQs,
even when studies control for differences in family incomes. 62
- Children in single-parent families are three times more likely to fail
and repeat a year in grade school; they are more likely to be late, absent
and subject to disciplinary action; and they are twice as likely to drop
out of school altogether. 63
- Numerous studies show that children from single-parent families are
substantially more likely to use drugs. 64
- Children from single-parent families are two to three times more likely
to experience mental illness or other psychological disorders; several
studies have shown around 80 percent of children admitted to psychiatric
hospitals coming from single-parent homes. 65
- Single-parent children are also more likely to commit suicide; the
suicide rate among teenagers has more than tripled since 1960, and suicide
is now the third leading cause of death among teenagers. 66
Moreover, the children of single parents are themselves more likely
to be single parents when they grow up:
- Young white women raised in single-parent families are 165 percent
more likely to have children out of wedlock and 111 percent more likely
to have children as teenagers than are women from two-parent families in
similar socioeconomic conditions; in addition, if they do marry, their
marriages are 92 percent more likely to end in divorce. 67
- Similar disparities are found among black families. 68
Single Parenting and Crime. The breakdown of the family fostered by
welfare contributes greatly to the tidal wave of crime that is engulfing
America, mainly because young males raised without fathers are far more
likely to commit crimes. It is not race that is the principal determinant
of antisocial activity, but out-of-wedlock births. 69 Childhood rejection
and abandonment are the strongest correlates to hostility and violent behavior
in later life. Moreover, the predictors of crime committed by whites are
in large part identical in magnitude to those for blacks. 70 Overall:
- The rate of arrest for juvenile violent crimes has more than tripled
over the past three decades, echoing the upsurge in single-parent households. 71
- High out-of-wedlock birth rates correlate with high crime rates among
young men. 72
- Studies show that most gang members come from single-parent homes. 73
- Of juvenile delinquents in state reform institutions, 70 percent had
lived in single-parent homes or with someone other than their natural parents. 74
- One study found that 60 percent of rapists come from single-parent
backgrounds. 75
- Another study found that 75 percent of adolescent murderers come from
single-parent homes. 76
- Perhaps the most powerful study of all, published in 1988 in the Journal
of Research on Crime and Delinquencies, found that neither poverty
nor race is significantly correlated with crime when family structure is
taken into account; the most crucial factor is the proportion of single-parent
households. 77
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