We need to spread the word that marriage and families are good for children! Despite the political spin, social science continues to show that children really benefit from having a mother and a father at home.
Social science research demonstrates the many educational benefits that children receive when they are raised in married families:
- Always-married families have a higher income on average than other family structures.
- Children born to married mothers are less likely than those born to single or cohabiting mothers to behave disruptively (i.e.,disobey a teacher, be aggressive with other children) when they’re in first grade.
- Children and adolescents in intact married families are more likely to care about doing well in school, to do schoolwork without being forced, and to complete their homework.
- Adolescents in single-parent families, married stepfamilies,or cohabiting stepfamilies are more likely than adolescents in always-married families to have ever been suspended or expelled from school, to have participated in delinquent activities,and to have problems getting along with teachers,doing homework, and paying attention in school.
Does this mean that single parents and stepfamilies are doomed? Not at all! But it does mean that they may have to work harder to offer children the stability and support that young ones so desperately need. Society and the Church both need to support them in these efforts.
But there can be no doubt that we also need to promote and support marriage and family life much more than we’re doing now as a culture.
Click here to download a factual one-sheet from the Marriage & Religion Research Institute, and equip yourself to spread the word!