{"id":2075604,"date":"2023-10-22T05:20:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-22T09:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/parental-guidance-suggested\/"},"modified":"2023-10-22T05:23:33","modified_gmt":"2023-10-22T09:23:33","slug":"parental-guidance-suggested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/parental-guidance-suggested\/","title":{"rendered":"PG"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">2<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fparental-guidance-suggested%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2075604&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Two-Parent Privilege: How\u2062 Americans Stopped Getting Married \u2064and Started Falling Behind<\/h2>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Children &#8220;require a lot of work and \u2064a lot of resources,&#8221; writes the economist Melissa \u200dS. Kearney. And &#8220;having two parents in the household generally means having more resources to devote \u2064to the task of raising a family.&#8221; This includes working for pay, supervising kids, and much else.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>An Advantage to Growing Up\u2064 in an Intact Family<\/h3>\n<p>That is the simplest argument for, as the title of Kearney\u2019s \u200dbook phrases it, a &#8220;two-parent privilege&#8221;: an \u200badvantage to growing up in an intact family. The privilege is denied to a large number of American children, \u200bdisproportionately those who already face other disadvantages. As of 2019, \u200c84 percent of kids whose \u200dmoms had four years of college, but only 60 percent of kids whose moms had a\u2063 high school degree or some college, lived \u2062with married parents. The racial gaps are even\u2064 starker: Even among kids whose moms have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-are-the-lessons-china-is-taking-from-the-ukraine-war\/\" title=\"What Are the Lessons China Is Taking From the Ukraine War?\">high-school education<\/a>\u2064 or less, about two-thirds of white kids, but only about one-third of black kids, have married \u2062parents.<\/p>\n<p>Kearney lays \u200bout the evidence \u200dthat having a second parent \u2063around is good for\u200c kids and offers \u200bsuggestions as to what might \u200cbe done, with the endnotes\u2063 commencing before page 200. <em>The Two-Parent Privilege<\/em> is impressively concise and well-argued, yet sure to start as many debates as it ends, regarding both the damage done by single parenthood and what policy reforms are in order.<\/p>\n<p>Given how obvious it is that &#8220;2> 1&#8243;\u2014the title of a key chapter\u2014why\u200b insist on detailed evidence?<\/p>\n<p>One reason\u200c is \u2062that many Americans, including well-educated Americans who value the stability of their \u200bown nuclear families, wince at the thought of talking about the consequences of \u2063single parenthood: It feels too judgy and\u200b puritan. Kearney writes that when she brought up family structure at an economics conference focused on inequality, the &#8220;muted reaction&#8221; consisted \u200dof &#8220;uncomfortable \u200dshifting in seats and\u2062 facial \u200bexpressions that conveyed reservations with this line of inquiry.&#8221; A forceful argument helps to break through that reticence.<\/p>\n<p>Another reason is that, scientifically, it\u2019s extremely difficult to assess the consequences \u200dof single parenthood. Kids of single parents unquestionably do worse than kids of married parents across countless measures,\u200d but single parenthood does not occur under\u200c experimental \u2063conditions. Single-parent\u200c families differ from married ones \u2063socioeconomically\u2014and are usually created \u2064through parents&#8217; choices, whether well-considered (such as\u2063 leaving a bad\u2063 partner who \u200cwould\u200d make a child\u2019s life\u2064 worse) or not (such as inconsistent use of \u200cbirth control). If we somehow \u2064induced single parents to raise \u200btheir kids within marriage, there\u2063 would still \u2062be big differences between \u2062them and the parents who marry before getting pregnant and stay together without prompting.<\/p>\n<p>And \u200cfinally, though\u200b Kearney does not engage with it, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/ng.3285\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">decades of research<\/a> from the field of behavioral genetics shows that genes are far more powerful in explaining how kids \u200dturn out in adulthood than the home environment is; indeed, sometimes the home environment seems to exert no measurable influence at all. There are\u2064 key exceptions,\u2062 such as <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/26340642\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">educational attainment<\/a>, to this general pattern, and of course giving kids a better\u2064 environment during \u200dthe time they grow up is \u200ba good thing\u2064 in\u2062 and of itself. But we should at least be open to the idea that, so long as kids are cared\u2062 for on a basic level, such improvements \u200dmay have only modest effects on long-term outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>So,\u2063 does Kearney have the goods to overcome both politeness and scientific obstacles? In that crucial &#8220;2> 1&#8221; \u2064chapter, she cites some compelling studies, though there remains considerable uncertainty here.<\/p>\n<p>As Kearney notes,\u200b researchers have used\u2064 a\u200d few different tricks to figure out the real effect of family structure. For instance, parental divorces\u200b give researchers the chance to see if individual kids\u2019 outcomes change for the worse \u2062after a parent leaves, as well as\u200d to see \u2063if younger siblings, who spend more time being raised by\u200d a single \u200bparent, \u200csee worse effects. Researchers can also statistically control for \u200cobvious differences across families, \u200csuch as parental race and education levels, though\u200d it\u2019s never\u2063 possible to include every variable that might matter.\u2062 Or\u200d they can\u2062 look at policy changes \u200bthat affected family structure, such as the \u200bgrowth of no-fault divorce laws, to see if kids\u2019 outcomes changed when \u200bthe \u200claws did.<\/p>\n<p>Even the most rigorous studies often \u2062find bad \u2064effects, as Kearney documents, though she tends to\u200b focus on the negative direction of the effects without discussing their precise magnitude, which would be key to quantifying the benefits of restoring two-parent families. And nuances abound. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3904543\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">major 2013 review<\/a> Kearney briefly mentions, for example, \u200bnoted that more careful studies tend\u200b to produce smaller results than\u200c simpler comparisons between single- and married-parent families. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jec.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm\/republicans\/2020\/7\/the-demise-of-the-happy-two-parent-home#_ednref11:~:text=Rigorously%20establishing%20the,statistical%20methods.11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Others \u2062have\u2063 pointed out<\/a> that, even among these better studies, about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/parental-guidance-suggested\/\" title=\"PG\">half produce statistically insignificant results<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On balance, it\u2019s\u2062 fair \u2063to say that stable two-parent families are good for kids\u20142> 1 is powerful common sense, and \u2062there\u2019s a lot of research\u200b consistent with it. But\u2063 it remains hard \u200dto say exactly how much \u200bkids&#8217; outcomes would improve if we somehow increased marriage among those not currently inclined toward it.<\/p>\n<p>And \u2064how would \u2064we go about doing\u2062 that? If 2> 1 is an obvious inequality, 1 + \u20641=2 is a\u2062 difficult equation.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not\u200d like we\u2019re heading back \u200dto 1950\u2014pressuring pregnant couples into shotgun marriages, \u200bmaking\u200b divorce more difficult, shoving women back out of the workforce, cutting welfare benefits\u2064 for unmarried mothers, etc.\u2014and Kearney \u2064doesn\u2019t want to anyhow. She proposes several other ideas.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s somewhat telling that her first idea\u200c is\u2062 to foster a &#8220;norm&#8221; of two-parent families. Norms are important, but they\u2019re also a standard cop-out in the later\u200c chapters of\u200b books about social problems: <em>How about everyone just changes their attitudes and behavior \u200dso we don\u2019t have this issue anymore?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The next idea is boosting the &#8220;economic position&#8221; of \u200dmen with no college degree,\u200c a promising but also tricky proposition. There\u2019s\u200c good \u200devidence \u2063connecting the decline of marriage among the less-educated to the erosion of men\u2019s economic advantage\u2063 and &#8220;marriageability,&#8221; but that process won\u2019t necessarily play out in reverse. The recent fracking boom instead seems to have simply increased fertility, among\u2063 the married and unmarried alike, for instance, according to Kearney\u2019s research.<\/p>\n<p>Further, the fact that men still outearn\u2062 women, even among those without a college \u200cdegree, complicates the matter\u2014to focus on boosting the economic position of less-educated <em>men<\/em> \u200b is to advance the sex that\u2019s\u2062 already\u200b ahead in\u2064 the labor market, which is sure to perplex feminists. Speaking of whom, Kearney reassures \u2064readers that despite her concern \u200cfor less-educated men\u2019s &#8220;relative economic position,&#8221; she \u200csees the \u2063&#8221;growth in women\u2019s earnings and economic opportunities&#8221; as a &#8220;positive social trend.&#8221; In the end, \u2063her concrete ideas for helping men include education and criminal-justice reform, apprenticeship programs, and (presumably\u2064 gender-neutral?) wage\u2062 subsidies.<\/p>\n<p>Then she proposes government programs\u200c to promote two-parent involvement even among couples who are no longer together, fund mentoring programs, and provide \u200dgeneral public support for poorer \u2064families. Kearney rejects the idea that\u200d welfare benefits \u200bdrove the increase in single motherhood\u2014the <a href=\"https:\/\/ifstudies.org\/blog\/new-social-capital-report-examines-family-instability-in-the-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trends certainly line up<\/a>, but more rigorous research\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/NBK230345\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">struggles to nail down the connection<\/a>\u2014and cites studies finding that \u2062government\u2064 aid improves kids\u2019 outcomes. She does, however, briefly note \u200bthat some government policies contain marriage penalties, and supports removing them.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s all basically fine, but I doubt it\u2019s up \u200cto the task of restoring two-parent \u200bfamilies. Maybe \u2064nothing is, short of aggressive subsidies\u200b given \u2064to married parents but not unmarried ones. Over the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/activist-investors-are-seizing-companies-to-push-social-justice-measures\/\" title=\"\u2018Activist Investors\u2019 Are Seizing Companies To Push Social Justice Measures\">past half-century<\/a>, it \u200bhas become both more feasible financially, and more acceptable socially, to create a single-parent \u200dhousehold\u2014and the \u2062underlying \u2062phenomena \u200dof economic growth,\u200b technological improvement, and \u2064social liberalism seem unlikely to end. \u2064Reforms like Kearney\u2019s can produce some results, but in \u200call\u200b likelihood, the rise\u200b of single parenthood is\u200c something America will be coping with, not reversing. Kearney, nonetheless, deserves great respect for saying out loud\u200b an awkward truth.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Two-Parent Privilege: How\u200c Americans Stopped Getting Married and \u2063Started Falling Behind<\/em><br \/>  by Melissa S. Kearney<br \/> University of Chicago Press, \u2062240 pp., \u200b$25<\/p>\n<p><em>Robert VerBruggen \u2062is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What are the contributing factors to the decline\u2064 of marriage in\u2064 America?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Hat family structure plays a role in shaping children&#8217;s\u2063 outcomes.<\/p>\n<h3>The Decline of \u2063Marriage\u2062 in America<\/h3>\n<p>The decline of marriage in America is a well-documented phenomenon. \u2064In 1964, over 70% of adults aged \u200c18 and older \u200cwere married. By 2019, that figure had dropped to just 50%.\u2063 This\u2064 decline has been particularly pronounced\u200d among the less \u2064educated and lower income populations. While it is not the \u2062case that all unmarried parents are single parents, the two-parent privilege is \u2062certainly more \u200dattainable within the context of marriage.<\/p>\n<p>There are several factors that\u2062 have contributed \u2064to this decline. Economic changes, such\u2062 as the erosion of manufacturing jobs, have\u200d led to increased instability in working-class communities, making it more difficult for \u200ccouples to establish a solid economic foundation. Cultural shifts, such\u200c as the acceptance \u2062of cohabitation and the rise \u200dof individualism, have also played a role in weakening\u200b the institution of marriage.<\/p>\n<h3>The Impact on Children<\/h3>\n<p>The\u200b consequences of this decline in marriage have\u2063 been particularly detrimental to children. Research consistently shows that children raised in intact families\u2064 have better educational outcomes, \u2063better emotional\u2064 and mental\u200c health, and are\u2064 less likely to engage\u200c in risky behaviors.\u2062 They also\u200b have higher incomes and accumulate more wealth as adults. The two-parent privilege, therefore, perpetuates \u200cand exacerbates existing inequalities.<\/p>\n<p>The racial disparities in family structure \u2064are particularly\u2063 striking. Black children are less likely than their white\u2064 counterparts to grow up in married\u2062 households. This further compounds the existing racial disparities in educational and economic outcomes, creating\u200d a cycle of disadvantage that is difficult to break.<\/p>\n<h3>Policies and Interventions<\/h3>\n<p>The question then arises, what can be done to address the decline of marriage\u2064 and promote the two-parent privilege? Kearney suggests that \u200cpolicy \u200creforms, such as\u2062 providing \u200dincentives for marriage, \u200cstrengthening support for low-income families, and improving access to effective contraception, could make \u200da difference. However, she also acknowledges\u2063 that changing cultural norms and attitudes towards marriage will be equally important in\u200c reversing this trend.<\/p>\n<p>It is\u2064 important \u200cto note that these \u200cpolicy interventions should not\u200c be seen as judgmental or\u2063 punitive towards single parents. Rather, they \u2062should be viewed as measures aimed at providing support and opportunities for all children, regardless of their family structure. The goal is \u200bto create a society\u200b where every child\u2064 has\u200c a \u2062fair chance to thrive and succeed.<\/p>\n<h3>A Call for\u2064 Honest\u2064 Dialogue<\/h3>\n<p>The topic of family\u200d structure and its impact on children can be \u200buncomfortable and contentious. However, \u200cit\u200b is a conversation that \u2064needs to\u200b be had in order to address the\u200d challenges\u200c facing American children. \u200cBy acknowledging the two-parent privilege and the advantages\u200c it \u200dconfers, we can work towards creating a society that ensures all children have access to the\u200b resources and opportunities \u200cthey need to succeed.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately,\u200b the decline of \u200dmarriage in America is not just a personal choice or a matter of individual\u200d preferences. It is \u200ca societal issue that requires collective action. By recognizing the \u200bimportance of \u2063intact families and implementing \u200dpolicies that support marriage and family stability, we can begin\u200b to close the gap and ensure\u2064 a brighter future for all children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>economist Melissa S. Kearney states, children demand significant effort and resources. Having two parents in a household typically means more resources available for raising a family, including working, overseeing children, and various other responsibilities. This is the fundamental rationale for having two parents in a household.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1462,"featured_media":2075605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2075604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2075604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1462"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2075604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2075604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2075605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2075604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2075604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2075604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}