Family and The American Dream

Family policy matters, and engaging in weekly radio show and podcast produced by the North Carolina family policy Council hi this is John Ralston presidency family were grateful to have you with us for this week's program is our prayer that you will be informed, encouraged and inspired by what you hear on family policy matters and that you will fold better equipped to be a voice of persuasion for family values in your community, state and nation, and now here's our house to family policy matters Tracy to bedrooms. Thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters what image comes to your mind when you think of the American dream. I guess today contends that the success that most people associate with achieving this dream may most closely connected to the strength of America's families and that the America we know and love grows fatally week without strong families. Dr. Brad Wilcox is a professor of sociology and director of the National marriage Project at the University of Virginia in June.

He published an article in the American mind entitled first family then freedom and we can explore that concept with him today.

Dr. Brad Wilcox. Welcome to family policy matters for your work. You're good with the most recent data shows record low rates for marriage and fertility in the US in both 2018 and 2019 in your recent article you said, quote the decline of the American family has put the success of the American experiment in question.

Strong words so why will a strong country Armstrong from was noted to do more good for metal roller could be doing well economically and otherwise when marriage ground. Regards, a lot of record decline in marriage and fertility in the country in recent years is cause for concern. Dr. Wilcox you talk about the success sequence. What is that and why has it been found to be so important. The success sequence with your obit.

We should take three steps to move into adulthood.

The first is to complete her education could be vocational training or college degree. The second is to work full time refers to Mary doing these things before we have children stroke particularly for your for our audience today thinking about putting marriage before the baby carriage and young adults to do that today you can today. All are much more likely to avoid poverty much like you to realize the American dream. Moving into middle class or higher installed sequence of only a 3% risk of being poor. By the early 20s or so, education, work, marriage not order before having children when we talk about reducing poverty in America.

Why you believe it's important that solutions should serve to also strengthen marriage what you think a lot of people on the left and the right agree education and work are crucial for forging a strong economic future here in America today where there is less agreement how marriage, but some do all this weather. Marriage personalities important when it comes to climate outcomes for Americans and the kids and work structures. It is clear we see in our research for the adults to marry before having children. About 60% less likely than the poor commercial appears to put no childbearing before marriage. So the idea here is that marriage because it brings to adults together because it engenders a sense of stability tends to lift economic fortunes of adults and especially their kids. We know for instance that basically kids in single parent families are about four times more likely be child poverty compared to married parents. That's partly because kids with birthparents boxes tomorrow morning. Come and give access to greater stability as well because those two parents can dramatist on their own ability to work, but also on the resources of their own parents and Kim. More generally, so you also say in your article again the name of that is first family then freedom you say that marriage is strongly associated with the rule of law in communities what you mean by that what matters. We noted that more likely to know the law.

There no family. We know that neighborhoods help more married parent to parent families are more likely to be safer and have more rates of incarceration. A lot of evidence of the basically strong families promote dual law of both the individual and the community in the state level. So in your research. You also found a connection between employment depression and marriage.

Talk about that. So you there's a good deal of research the merger and basically the suggests to ours but Remo always tests of despair. America.

Unfortunately, many Americans, many working-class men are basically committing suicide or using drugs or alcohol to excess coming up dying because of substance abuse. So again, all because of despair. Cost and was clear in the research is that a married man. Men really never married or divorced far more likely to end up committing suicide directly or physically killing themselves by drinking themselves with using drugs to excess. The point here simply use the close of not marriage among working-class America have proved fatal for many Americans across this country so you send that these policies that contribute to the decline in strong families are not confined to one political party so explain that a little bit you know I think people like myself who been right about family issues: time attended to, finger cultural developments is the primary cause for our family predicament today and I met with the left bears the lion share of the blame what's been happening to our families, support the strip understand and abolish the economic changes American life undercut working-class jobs also are implicated in the decline of marriage and working-class communities across this country. We know for instance that the Chinese movement into WTO in 2001, little off about 1 million decent paying great jobs across this country of ours, and that in turn led to more divorce more now about Albert and a more single parent, and that support for free trade with China was part and parcel of the Republican agenda and has been familiar since I'm trying to recognize that the idea that all we did there was, minimize regulations, bring tax rates down and talk about freedom and liberty. As many Republicans in the last 40 years or so is no longer enough. We have to pursue a new agenda talking about conservatives were with publicans and that new agenda would incorporate a much more aggressive in pursuing educational and economic policies that lift up the economic fortunes of working-class challenge facing Democrats is that generally better focused on redistribution rather than working marriage and I know that there is some openness in the part of the public in fixing the marriage penalty that a lot of us decline out of policies like Medicaid, weather hasn't been, but accountable for the part Democrats to fully address things like the marriage penalty and being just like to meditate. I think the Democrats could be more attentive to the ways in which all public policies today tend to penalize marriage and also more attentive to the importance of shifting our focus are comes to education away from college and towards vocational both parties and falling down when it comes to doing more to strengthen and highlight the importance of vocational education mentioned the marriage penalty to someone the other day and they looked at me very strangely. Could you talk a little bit more about what you mean by that in America we have means tested programs for a lot of our program serving families.

For instance, almost rushing the biggest means of support amount America today provides free medical care to low-income families and have a special booklet that means basically that lot easier for families were say the mom is earning $15,000 in the data's earnings during $5000 in class jobs and the total income would be around $15,000 for that couple was in two children, Michael took a while ago. Medicaid is applied with the mopped the mother to church, but in conformist joint thousand dollars and not be eligible for Medicaid happening is a lot of working-class families nowadays is cohabiting Mary Hartman because they have the knowledge or explicit or implicit, that would disqualify them from accessing things like insurance and she's mentioned Virginia.

The father did not have access to healthcare churches company and so the only kind of thing sensibly that they are not married, in large part because it would force him to get rid of their medical insurance and that I think conference member working-class couples a trip to America and crying shame that we shouldn't think like marrying, providing medical insurance to their think that you said earlier was talked about being stably employed and I've done some reading about that in the gig economy. Of course, which is some people that are maybe more contract workers lack of stability. Why is that such an issue. Do you think in marriage. Marriage and having a husband going toward is a boot predictor of getting married in the first 20 married in Second Life when married couples much more walking through a lot of them with the letting when he loses a full-time stable job much more likely to descend into a cycle of conflict, disappointment and divorce divorce now so it's a vicious cycle so that's why he was concerned by a new economy.

It's much more unstable.

For many Americans see mentioned a couple of times also education that is the primary tool for influencing marriage so what specific education policies any more than that you that you haven't spoken about yet to be more precise, and I have a large room got nine germs in the world are different from another scene, been in our community as their kids were not met. College track at the same time and attention and consideration in many public schools as well.

Actually any dusty truck. He could not of 1000 orientation inclinations to attend a four-year college or university and we spend a lot more money at the federal level and want to return the shirts with college than we do on preparing them for the vocational college like word fracturing, no plummeting, working in the front of the structure, etc. so concretely there are career Academy. For instance, blowing out across United States programs provide high quality vocational training young adults were not met. College track and they give them skills and opportunities and also into apprenticeships with real employers on the track to a good paying little income job and receive a greater focus from local schools, state education agencies and federal education to increase our focus and our support for these kind of vocational educational efforts where just about out of time for this week that before we go.

Dr. Wilcox where listeners go to learn more about your research.

Families delete the word use a great place to go to see more about research that I do in my college family study and you can also call your twitter Wilcox and MP.

Thank you very much, Dr. Brad Wilcox, director of the National marriage Project at the University of Virginia you so much for being with us today on family policy matters even listening to family policy matters. We hope you enjoyed the program and plenitude in again next week to listen to the show online and learn more about NC families work to inform, encourage and inspire families across both are a lot of good or website it NC family.award that's NC family.org. Thanks again for listening and may God bless you and your family