The family, centered on marriage, is the building block of society. When marriages and families are healthy, communities thrive and government is limited; when marriages break down, communities break down and government role expands. Research shows that good policy places marriage and the family at the center, working to promote and strengthen this long-established institution.
Issues 2012 provides candidates for elected office the ability to quickly identify the key issues of the day and present clear policy recommendations, supported by facts, for addressing them. Read More.
Check out the new improved FamilyFacts.org. A resource for charts and information on why the family is so important to a free and civil society. Read More.
In 1935, President Roosevelt (D) said: “Continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fibre. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.” Read More.
Marriage: America's greatest weapon against child poverty. A Heritage Foundation book of charts. Read More.
You’d notice if 160 million women were missing from the U.S. population. You couldn’t help but notice, actually. There aren’t that many females in the whole country. Yet that’s how many girls have been lost in Asia to the practice of sex-selective… Read more
The race is on. Presidential primary season started in Iowa on Jan. 3 and the electoral finish line isn’t until Nov. 6. The marathon will test the endurance not only of the candidates, but also of Americans subject to a media blitz.All the play-by-play commentary on… Read more
Poverty and inequality in America are hot topics these days, and not just among the Occupy Wall Street crowd. Yet amid all the chatter, hardly anyone talks about the greatest driver of poverty: the rapidly rising number of babies born to unmarried mothers. Today, over 40 percent… Read more
When Pam Tebow was counseled to abort her baby to save her own life, the doctor referred to him as a "mass of fetal tissue." "(M)aybe she just called me that to toughen us up for the names I would be called the first time I played… Read more
Interview with Jennifer Marshall Kate Bolick has set the chattering class — not to mention the bar scene — abuzz with her cover story for The Atlantic, “All the Single Ladies.” Because she passed up marriage in her late 20s and… Read more
Adoption advocates hope to recruit enough parents to take in the 107,000 children in America’s foster care system who are waiting for permanent families. And it’s not just because November is National Adoption Month. For too many children, foster care has become more of a trap… Read more
Alongside The Atlantic magazine’s November cover story, “All the Single Ladies,” runs a photograph of its 39-year-old author. In a fawn-colored silk dress and up-do, Kate Bolick contemplatively sips champagne as a bridal bouquet flies over her head. Like many of her never-married peers, she’s scrupulously ignoring the… Read more
Alongside The Atlantic magazine’s November cover story, “All the Single Ladies,” runs a photograph of its 39-year-old author. In a fawn-colored silk dress and up-do, Kate Bolick contemplatively sips champagne as a bridal bouquet flies over her head. Like many of her never-married peers, she’s scrupulously… Read more
“Many saw me as an unlikely urban champion,” admits Rick Baker, who served two terms as mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida’s fourth-largest city, and was named Governing magazine’s top mayor in 2008. Mayor Baker isn’t just being humble. He’s a social and economic conservative. Conservatives generally aren’t known for leading… Read more
Britain is soul-searching after raging youth mobs, some among them not yet teens, left five people dead and property damages estimated at $325 million in five nights of anarchy. In the rubble of the riots, the British are unearthing the lexicon of right and wrong. … Read more
This lecture was held at The Heritage Foundation on March 13, 1998. Welcome to our panel discussion on the 30th anniversary of the publication of the Kerner Commission Report. The Heritage Foundation has a number of goals. One is to roll back the liberal welfare state. A prerequisite to understanding what happened to create the… Read more
Each year, over 1 million American children suffer the divorce of their parents; moreover, half of the children born this year to parents who are married will see their parents divorce before they turn 18. Mounting evidence in social science journals demonstrates that the devastating physical, emotional, and financial… Read more
What causes poverty in America? If you’re like most people, you are concerned about poverty—but probably not your own. By historical standards, most Americans are quite wealthy. And that’s part of what bothers us.… Read more
President Obama’s budget seeks to overturn the fundamental principles of welfare reform. To accomplish this, his budget would: Create a new funding system to reward states for increasing the size of their welfare caseloads; and … Read more
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… Read more
Early initiation of sexual activity and higher numbers of non-marital sex partners are linked in turn to a wide variety of negative life outcomes, including increased rates of infection with sexually transmitted diseases, increased rates of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and birth, increased single parenthood, decreased marital stability, increased maternal and child poverty, increased abortion, increased depression, and… Read more
Over the last few generations, the spirit embodied in the American family has been severely tested; and frankly it is faltering and with it the nation also falters. As record numbers of families fall apart or fail to form in the first place-a trend that has continued at an alarming rate since the 1960s-we have… Read more
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2000 - What price love? Married couples can now figure it out to the dollar by visiting The Heritage Foundation's new "Marriage Tax Relief Calculator," an online tool that allows two-income families to see how much they could save if the "marriage penalty" didn't force them to pay more in taxes… Read more
The word "justice" is on everyone's lips nowadays, and may signify almost anything. We hear the cry "Peace and Justice!" from folk who would destroy existing societies with fire and sword. Other folk fancy that perfect justice might readily be obtained by certain financial rearrangements -- as if anything in this world ever could be… Read more
Abstract: In high-rent urban neighborhoods and the prosperous suburbs of the nation’s major cities, divorce is down, marital satisfaction remains high, and non-marital childbearing is still an exotic activity. It is not upscale America but Middle America that is experiencing marital troubles: From small… Read more
Abstract: Proponents of religious freedom have firmly established that same-sex marriage threatens religious freedom in a number of ways. In response, some have argued that certain threats to religious freedom discussed in this context have more to do with nondiscrimination laws than with the… Read more
The New York legislature’s June 24 vote to redefine the family and recognize homosexual marriage will have a number of short-term and long-term impacts within and well beyond the Empire State.[1] The vote does not signal an end to the now two-decade fight over the meaning of marriage.… Read more
Abstract: Marriage and family are declining in America, following a trend well established in Europe. This breakdown of the American family has dire implications for American society and the U.S. economy. Halting and reversing the sustained trends of nearly four decades will not happen… Read more
If Olympic medals were handed out for hubris, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a gay activist group, would be the clear favorite for the gold. Its ruthless effort to deprive the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) a top-notch defense in federal court has collapsed at the starting block. But this… Read more
Abstract: For tens of thousands of endangered children, foster care has become a trap door rather than the safety net they need to help them succeed. In particular, federal financing policies have favored foster care over other child welfare approaches, leading states to overuse… Read more
Abstract: Child poverty is an ongoing national concern, but few are aware that its principal cause is the absence of married fathers in the home. Marriage remains America’s strongest anti-poverty weapon, yet it continues to decline. As husbands disappear from the home, poverty and… Read more
Abstract : Some same-sex marriage activists might wish to exclude certain moral and religious viewpoints from the same-sex marriage debate. Evidence shows, however, that religion… Read more
Families have good reason to be concerned about how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010[1] will affect them. While the law will deliver a health insurance entitlement to millions of individuals and families, many of its provisions weaken family choice of coverage, undermine… Read more
The 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) concluded last month at the United Nations, with even more feminist fanfare than in recent years. The CSW is a functional body that meets annually to discuss and review the situation… Read more
While divorce at any age comes with potentially negative effects, according to new research from Michigan State...… Read more
Last Friday, Bahrainis held a peaceful, though spirited, rally in front of the United Nations headquarters in Manama...… Read more
The benefits of marriage are numerous: from increasing financial health to promoting child well-being, tying the knot...… Read more
UPDATE: Many people have been asking about the schedule of the bus tour. The most current schedule can be found at...… Read more
The benefits of marriage are numerous, with advantages extending across social and economic situations. Marriage even...… Read more
High-quality social science research shows that marriage is associated with a number of health benefits. Studies...… Read more
For many, the end of the holiday season and the beginning of a new year activates a new (or old) set of resolutions. A...… Read more
Despite the increasing effort to strike “Christmas” from our common vocabulary, 91 percent of Americans say that they...… Read more
How does marriage fare as the nation heads into the new year? Unfortunately, the most recent government data indicate...… Read more
As Christmas approaches, malls and big-box stores are packed with parents seeking that special gift that will bring a...… Read more
Research Fellow
Policy Analyst
Director, Domestic Policy Studies
Senior Research Fellow