Marriage and Social Outcomes

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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.
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The institution of marriage draws mothers and fathers together in the smallest of communities, reinforcing bonds with their children and cementing ties across generations. Marriage is the necessary foundation of the family and therefore essential for societal existence and well-being. Read More.

Our Research & Offerings on Marriage and Social Outcomes

Commentary posted November 2, 2011 by Jennifer Marshall The Thinker: Staying Single
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…
Commentary posted September 21, 2011 by Jennifer Marshall 'Josephs' Are Poised to Restore America
Convicts, gang bangers, addicts and dropouts from across the country descended on Denver the other day. But instead of drawing police, they had an admiring audience of analysts, academics and donors eager to study their success. Success, that is, in transforming troubled lives -- just as they…
Backgrounder posted July 29, 2011 by Thomas Messner Same-Sex Marriage and Threats to Religious Freedom: How Nondiscrimination Laws Factor In
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…
WebMemo posted June 28, 2011 by Chuck Donovan Five Impacts of the New York Same-Sex Marriage Vote
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.…
Audio Recorded on June 17, 2011 PODCAST: Ryan Messmore on Father's Day
Ryan Messmore discusses the importance of fathers in the home and in American society. Hannah Sternberg hosts. To get regular updates on Heritage in Focus podcasts, visit our RSS feed or subscribe on iTunes. To listen to more Heritage in Focus podcasts, return to the…
Lecture posted February 22, 2011 by W. Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D., Paul Taylor, Chuck Donovan When Marriage Disappears: The Retreat from Marriage in Middle America
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…
Commentary posted December 6, 2010 by Chuck Donovan Marriage: Marginalized in the Middle
Marriage is in trouble in Middle America. High rates of divorce, nonmarital childbearing and single parenthood were once problems primarily concentrated in poor communities. Now, the American retreat from marriage is moving into the heart of the social order: the middle class. This retreat from marriage imperils…
Commentary posted November 17, 2010 by Chuck Donovan The Car-Wreck Generation
As youths, the Greatest Generation endured the Great Depression. As adults, they endured the snows of Bastogne and the heat of Bataan to win a world war. Then they resumed the lives they had scarcely begun, rejoining their loved ones, marrying, having children, building churches and…
Commentary posted June 10, 2010 by Chuck Donovan The Tragedy of Absent Fathers
"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport." So says Shakespeare's desperate and deceived Gloucester in "King Lear."…
Commentary posted January 8, 2010 by Chuck Donovan The Home Truth About Marriage and Family
With each new year comes a new State of the Union Address. Doubtless this year's address will focus on the economy. But as the president's speechwriters hunch over their keyboards to pound out drafts of this year's oration, they would do well to include some language about the state of…

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Backgrounder posted June 5, 2000 by Patrick Fagan, Ph.D., Robert Rector The Effects of Divorce on America
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…
Backgrounder posted June 11, 1999 by Patrick Fagan, Ph.D. How Broken Families Rob Children of Their Chances for Future Prosperity
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…
Backgrounder posted July 29, 2011 by Thomas Messner Same-Sex Marriage and Threats to Religious Freedom: How Nondiscrimination Laws Factor In
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…
Center for Data Analysis Report posted May 20, 2003 by Robert Rector, Kirk Johnson, Ph.D., Patrick Fagan, Ph.D., Lauren Noyes Increasing Marriage Would Dramatically Reduce Child Poverty
In 2001, 1.35 million children were born outside marriage. This represents 33.5 percent of all children born in the United States in that year. Children raised by never-married mothers are seven times more likely to be poor when compared to children raised in intact married families. The obvious nexus…
Lecture posted October 20, 2003 by The Honorable Rick Santorum The Necessity of Marriage
Event Archive (real player) | Event Details Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today regarding an important institution that is increasingly threatened in our society--marriage. Several years ago, I…
Testimony posted May 13, 2004 by Patrick Fagan, Ph.D. The Impact of Marriage and Divorce on Children
Testimony Before the Senate of the United States, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Subcommittee on Science, Technology, And Space regarding the Social Scientific Data on the Impact of Marriage and Divorce on Children. (Charts and graphs included in the testimony are available in the Map of the Family Powerpoint presentation) Good afternoon…
WebMemo posted June 28, 2011 by Chuck Donovan Five Impacts of the New York Same-Sex Marriage Vote
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.…
News Releases on May 13, 2004 "Culture of Rejection" Endangers Families, Analyst tells Congress
WASHINGTON, MAY 13, 2004-The breakdown in marriage over the last 50 years carries a cost: America has evolved from being a "culture of belonging" to being a "culture of rejection," and its children are suffering as a result, an expert in family and cultural issues at The Heritage Foundation told Congress today. "National survey…
Backgrounder posted May 15, 1997 by Patrick Fagan, Ph.D. The Child Abuse Crisis: The Disintegration of Marriage, Family, and the American Community
Introduction Far too many children are badly abused in the United States today. This disturbing fact--driven home by shocking stories on nightly television broadcasts--appears also in professional literature as analysts try to understand the causes of this problem and find a remedy for it. The…
Lecture posted February 22, 2011 by W. Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D., Paul Taylor, Chuck Donovan When Marriage Disappears: The Retreat from Marriage in Middle America
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…

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Backgrounder posted July 29, 2011 by Thomas Messner Same-Sex Marriage and Threats to Religious Freedom: How Nondiscrimination Laws Factor In
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…
WebMemo posted June 28, 2011 by Chuck Donovan Five Impacts of the New York Same-Sex Marriage Vote
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.…
Report posted November 10, 2007 by Robert Rector, Christine Kim Fiscal Distribution Analysis of Single-Parent Families in the United States, FY2004
Abstract. A fiscal deficit occurs when the benefits and services received by one group exceeds the taxes paid. When such a deficit occurs, other groups must pay, through taxes, for the services and benefits of the group in deficit. A fiscal distribution analysis measures…
News Releases on June 15, 2005 Study: Virginity Pledgers More Likely To Avoid Risky Sex, Have Lower STD Rates
WASHINGTON, JUNE 15, 2005-For critics of federally funded abstinence education, it was a dream come true: an article in a scientific journal claiming that teenagers who took virginity pledges were just as likely as non-pledgers to have a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and…
WebMemo on July 9, 2004 Academics Raise the Alarm Over Marriage
From Reformatorisch Dagblad, July 8, 2004 (original) THE HAGUE -- In an open letter to this newspaper, five academics raise the alarm over the deteriorating state of marriage in the Netherlands. "People seem to attach less and less importance to marriage. More people are having children out of wedlock, even…
WebMemo on July 9, 2004 Interview with Dutch Scholars on Marriage
From Reformatorisch Dagblad, July 8, 2004 (original) By Addy de Jong THE HAGUE -- They fear it might be too late to turn things around. Nevertheless, five academics want to sound the alarm over the deteriorating state of marriage in the Netherlands, especially now that other countries are discussing the issue…
WebMemo on July 9, 2004 Statement by Five Dutch Social Science Professors on the Deterioration of Marriage in the Netherlands
From Reformatorisch Dagblad, July 8, 2004 (original) At a time when parliaments around the world are debating the issue of same-sex marriage, as Dutch scholars we would like to draw attention to the state of marriage in the Netherlands. The undersigned represent various academic disciplines in which marriage is an…
News Releases on May 13, 2004 "Culture of Rejection" Endangers Families, Analyst tells Congress
WASHINGTON, MAY 13, 2004-The breakdown in marriage over the last 50 years carries a cost: America has evolved from being a "culture of belonging" to being a "culture of rejection," and its children are suffering as a result, an expert in family and cultural issues at The Heritage Foundation told Congress today. "National survey…
Executive Summary posted March 30, 2004 by Melissa Pardue, Robert Rector Executive Summary: Reducing Domestic Violence: How the Healthy Marriage Initiative Can Help
In the United States today, one child in three is born outside marriage. The decline of marriage is a prominent cause of child poverty, welfare dependence, and many other social problems. In response to these concerns, President George W. Bush has proposed a Healthy Marriage Initiative to promote and encourage strong marriages. The…
Backgrounder posted March 9, 2004 by Robert Rector, Patrick Fagan, Ph.D., Kirk Johnson, Ph.D. Marriage: Still the Safest Place For Women and Children
The institution that most strongly protects mothers and children from domestic abuse and violent crime is marriage. Analysis of ten years worth of findings from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has conducted since 1973, demonstrates that mothers who are or ever have been married are…

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