Category: Marriage/Family

“Strong American families are the foundation of a healthy society and served as a steppingstone towards building a better world,” the first lady told a crowd seated in the East Room of the White House.

Incomes grew steadily for all families in the decades prior to the Great Recession, but the strongest gains belonged to married parents. Having two incomes rather than one goes a long way towards explaining prosperity. Another part of this story is the human capital enjoyed by married mothers. While all mothers have more education and job experience than they used to, married mothers continue to enjoy a strong advantage in labor market qualifications. These resources translate into higher incomes, but not equally. Married and divorced mothers reap relatively similar levels of returns to their demographic and social characteristics, while never-married mothers fare far worse.

Cohabitation fails to prepare people for marriage because it is fundamentally unlike marriage. As Wilcox explained, cohabitation causes partners to “adopt a less committed view of marriage,” and that “this low-commitment mentality makes them more vulnerable to marital dissolution when times get tough.” In cohabitation, both people are on trial, while implicitly telling the other, “You’ll do for now, unless I find someone better.”

Couples with military training often show composure in tough times. But that strength can mask the needs of real people who long to be open with each other. Marriages suffer if these needs aren’t met.

Chappell Roan caused quite a stir on social media following her appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast,where she made a few bold remarks about parenthood. “All of my friends who have kids are in hell,” she said, adding: “I don’t know anyone who’s happy and has children at this age . . . anyone who has light in their eyes, anyone who has slept.”

The time is right for Congress to pass a baby bonus, and the Niskanen Center’s Leah Libresco Sargeant has helped them do their homework.

Her new report, which she detailed on these pages, is a compelling, comprehensive case for targeted assistance to new parents.

In 1965, the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote: “The role of the family in shaping character and ability is so pervasive as to be easily overlooked. The family is the basic social unit of American life; it is the basic socializing unit. By and large, adult conduct in society is learned as a child.”

I (Greg) remember standing at the altar on my wedding day and pledging my lifelong commitment to my wife, Erin. But after saying my vows, I didn’t give much thought to my marriage commitment. I was simply committed. What was there to think about? Since that time, however, I’ve come to realize that commitment is more than just a vow at a wedding.