Produced by The Domestic Policy Studies Department Published by The Heritage Foundation 214 Massachusetts Ave. Much of the debate about the growing gap between rich and poor in America focuses on the changing job force, the cost of living, and the tax and regulatory structure that hamstrings businesses and employees. But analysis of the social science literature demonstrates that the root cause of poverty and income disparity is linked undeniably to the presence or absence of marriage.
Broken families earn less and experience lower levels of educational achievement.
Worse, they pass the prospect of meager incomes and family instability on to their children, making the effects intergenerational. Children living with a single mother are six times more likely to live in poverty than are children whose parents are married. Those who leave the welfare system when they get married are the least likely to return. Cohabitation doubles the rate of divorce. Cohabitation with someone other than one's future spouse quadruples the rate of divorce.