Why Marriage Matters for Family and Child Well-Being (with Brad Wilcox)

Katharine Stevens is joined by Brad Wilcox, a leading family policy expert, to discuss the role of marriage in family strength and wellbeing.  Professor Wilcox argues that children growing up with married parents are more likely to flourish because marriage provides stability, financial resources, and emotional support for parents, leading to better parenting outcomes. He describes the steep decline in marriage rates over the past century, and the growing marriage divide between higher and lower socioeconomic groups. Finally, he explains how current government policies disincentivize marriage for lower-income couples, and discusses how both government and civil society could better promote marriage.


KEY TAKEAWAYS

* Marriage provides stability, financial resources, and a sense of commitment that positively impacts both adults and their children. 

* Marriage rates have fallen by about 65 percent since 1970; experts project that less than half of adults today will ever be married.  

* The “marriage divide” is growing as more affluent and educated people are now much more likely to be stably married than those from lower-income communities.

*Government policies should eliminate existing marriage penalties and instead promote marriage by strengthening the financial foundations of family life for lower income working families. 

RELATED WORK

Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization (https://www.amazon.com/Get-Married-Americans-Families-Civilization/dp/B0B3S6G7XH)


ABOUT THE GUEST

Brad Wilcox is Professor of Sociology and Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, and  Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. His research focuses on marriage, fatherhood, and cohabitation, especially on the ways that family structure, civil society, and culture influence the quality and stability of family life.  He also focuses on exploring the contribution that families make to the economic welfare of both individuals and societies. 

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