Comments for Family Structure is Overrated as an Explanation of Inequality, Part 3 on DeParle's Marriage Plot at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 2 out of 2 comments http://www.cepr.net Sun, 19 May 2013 03:34:52 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/family-structure-is-overrated-as-an-explanation-of-inequality-part-3-on-deparles-marriage-plot#comment-17646 A couple of notes: single-parent families are always more likely to be poor than two-parent families. Two parent families have more people to put into either paid labor or to circumvent the need for childcare. And it's necessary to have two incomes to buy most of the trappings of middle class life. Duh. Second, the main driver of divorce is money. Middle-class couples are less likely to divorce than those of us in the working class simply because they have more money. (Interestingly, that's one of the reasons that blue states have lower divorce rates than red states--blue state families have more money.) - PeonInChief Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:11:59 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/family-structure-is-overrated-as-an-explanation-of-inequality-part-3-on-deparles-marriage-plot#comment-17575 Of course family is the most important consideration. But why isn't marriage also the most important consideration? The statistics tell the story: there are 19 welfare families headed by a single parent for every 2-parent welfare family. A child's chances of being raised in poverty are 20 times higher when born to a single parent. It isn't rocket science. To ensure the best chance for your children, get married first, then have kids. And stay together. Why we do this backwards in our society is key to rising levels of public assistance, now being paid out to almost 30 percent of the population. - larold Thu, 19 Jul 2012 06:38:50 +0100