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The growing gap between the haves and the have-nots in America, argues Kay S. Hymowitz, is largely attributable to the rise of single-parent families, especially among less-educated mothers.
[S]tarting in 1980, Americans began to experience a widening Marriage Gap that has reached dangerous proportions. As of 2000, only about 10 percent of mothers with 16 or more years of education–that is, with a college degree or higher–were living without husbands. Compare that with 36 percent of mothers who have between nine and 14 years of education.
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Yes, experts predict that about 40 to 50 percent of marriages will break up. But most of those divorces will involve women who have always shopped at Wal-Mart. [T]he rise in single-parent families is concentrated among blacks and among the less educated, summarize [David] Ellwood and [Christopher] Jencks [in their 2004 paper, ‘The Unequal Spread of Single-Parent Families’]. "It hardly occurred at all among women with a college degree."
Why are educated women more likely to get married before having children, even though they are better able to afford to raise children on their own? Because they know that children have a far greater chance of educational and economic success if the children have fathers and their mothers have husbands.
It’s common sense, backed up by plenty of research, that you’ll have a better chance of fully "developing" your children . . . if you have a husband around. Children of single mothers have lower grades and educational attainment than kids who grow up with married parents, even after controlling for race, family background, and IQ. Children of divorce are also less likely to graduate and attend college, and when they do go for a B.A., they tend to go to less elite schools.
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To repeat the question: Why do educated women marry before they have children? Because, like high-status women since status began, they are preparing their offspring to carry on their way of life. Marriage radically increases their chances of doing that.This all points to a deeply worrying conclusion: the Marriage Gap—and the inequality to which it is tied—is self-perpetuating. A low-income single mother . . . is more likely to raise children who will become low-income single parents, who will pass that legacy on to their children, and so on down the line. . . . Instead of an opportunity-rich country for all, the Marriage Gap threatens us with a rigid caste society.
Still, the question remains: Why are life chances better for children who are raised in a home by a husband and wife who are married to each other? Some have argued that it’s not marriage per se; rather, it’s the kind of people who marry. Those who are able to get married and stay married have the kind of life skills needed to raise children successfully.
