Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wisc.) stunned D.C.’s top elected officials at a recent hearing on public safety when he asked what they were doing to make sure a higher percentage of babies were born in the city. a father at home,
I remember making a similar connection between family structure and social outcomes when I worked in the city’s gun violence prevention office. It highlighted one of the most significant — and least discussed — racial disparities in the nation’s capital.
close to 80 percent children Wards 7 and 8 are those born to unmarried parents. These are also those parts of the city where 60 percent are homicidesBy contrast, 88 percent of children in Wards 2 and 3 – where gun violence is much less common – are born to married parents.
Given the racial demographics of the district, such disparity means that black and white children in D.C. start life on very different paths.
This local reality reflects a larger national trend. Today, nearly 70 percent of babies are born black unmarried Guardian. Forty-four percent of black children live with a single mother. Simply put, the majority of black children in America today are no longer born to or raised by married parents.
Unfortunately, DC’s elected officials, like many of their counterparts across the country, believe there is nothing they can do to strengthen families. But they are wrong.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s Famous report of 60 years ago Called on the federal government to address the disintegration of the black family. my new report“Moving on from Moynihan: A New Blueprint for Revitalizing Marriage and Rebuilding the Black Family,” It includes recommendations about how key institutions – including elected officials and other government leaders – can create a culture of marriage and strong families.
The first step is for them to accept that a child’s life outcomes depend far more on his or her home environment than on his or her political agenda.
For example, Poverty rate for black married couples It has been in single digits for decades. On the contrary, poverty rate For single black mothers the figure is 31 percent.
The relationship between family structure and financial security is encouraging, but unfortunately, married couples account for only 28 percent of all black families, compared to National average 47 percentChildren who live with their married parents also enroll in college at higher rates and are low incarceration rates As adults.
City leaders can also use their bully pulpit to link family structure to social outcomes. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a campaign to reduce teen pregnancy in 2013, giving young people a three-step plan – “finish high school, get a job, and get married before having kids” – that would be virtually Guarantee May they live a life free from poverty. Today any leader can do this.
The government’s role in strengthening families is not limited to local leaders. a federal grant Provides $35 million for marriage education programs. A local church might use this type of grant to run a marriage boot-camp for couples living with children, where successful completion of the program will mean participants are ready to say “I do” by the end of their training.
This type of program may seem controversial to some people, but it is based on two clear truths. The first is that every child has the right to the affection, protection and direction of the man and woman who created him. The second is that the ideal environment for exercising this right is in a loving and stable home with their married biological parents.
However, today, DC programs prefer Strong family, strong futureAn initiative that gives low-income mothers $7,500 over the course of a year shows that when elected officials think about poor black neighborhoods the working definition of “family” is a single mother and her children. This is the clearest example of how incorporating family structure into public communications, data collection, policy analysis, and program priorities will fundamentally change the way cities currently do business.
If 80 percent of Black children in D.C. face serious health problems that affect only 10 percent of white children, the city will make addressing that disparity a top priority. Given the serious consequences, the fact that most black children do not have the benefit of living under the same roof with their married parents should receive the same response.
Young people in many neighborhoods today have no reason to believe that marriage should come before children because no one in their lives, not even their elected leaders, has ever given them this message. This can change, but only with a commitment to the marriage culture and family structure that was the norm in previous generations.
Delano Squire is a Research Fellow in the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Human Flourishing at The Heritage Foundation.
