Newell spoke with Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation about how the number of two-parent homes hit 70%, according to the U.S. Census. The two discussed a number of variables that could attribute to the increase. The family dynamic is something that has always interested Newell.
“Obviously this is some encouraging news because most sociologists and others say that a good family structure is not only good for society in so many different ways, but obviously when it comes to child rearing both a patriarchal and matriarchal presence is key," Newell said.
Rector replied, “Having an intact married family is the number one factor for eliminating child poverty. Having a father in the home is very important to the maturation of the children in particular, communities or neighborhoods where there are relatively few married husbands and fathers in the neighborhood have that. That's the reason or the major reason why you see these high, extremely high levels of crime in big cities. If a young boy is raised without his father in the home, he doesn't have an appropriate role model. He doesn't have the role model of being a father and a breadwinner, and he tends to gravitate to other models. And in fact, these boys often are using the gang as a surrogate father that leads to extremely high levels of, of crime and violence and death and murder."
Newell asked Robert, “Would it be safe to say that it is probably even more advantageous in the lower socioeconomic groups? Money seems to be able to solve a lot of issues, whether it's flexibility, being nimble, things of that nature, getting assistance, whether it's a school tutor or whatever. Would that be a fair observation?”
Robert replied, “It is because if you look at non-marital childbearing, 40% of children that are born without the parents being married, that does not occur in the upper middle class. It's almost non-existent. It occurs almost exclusively in two groups in society: One is mothers that have a high school degree or less they're in the lower half of the socioeconomic spectrum, or Hollywood starlets, they don't get married. But the middle-class is still basically carries out the tradition of marriage of being married before you have children in a strong way, just like it was the 1950s, but marriage has collapsed in the lower economic group, the group that can least afford to try for a mother to try to go it alone. That creates a lot of financial pressure. And the presence of both parents together is highly advantageous for children, no matter what socioeconomic class they're in,” said Rector.
Rector also added, “the recent drug crisis with the pain relieving drugs, almost all of the overdoses and the addictions are occurring now among married men of a middle level or lower or level of education, they are exactly the ones where marriage has collapsed and their traditional role of being fathers and breadwinners and taking care of kids and spouses has disappeared from them, and their lives are kind of empty and they respond to this in negative ways. They tend to drop in and out of the labor force because they don't have anything to work for. They tend to get involved in drugs and, and die from it. Actually, it's a really tragic situation.”
Hear the entire interview in the audio player below.
