Navigating conversations about the choice to raise a child alone is a nightmare, perhaps because it sometimes feels like it wasn’t a choice at all. In The Two-Parent Privilege, Melissa S Kearney emphasises that she is not trying to pass judgment or shame single parents. But she says we must discuss America’s striking rise in single parenthood, arguing that it is disadvantaging affected children, exacerbating inequality and leaving kids stuck in poverty.
The figures set out in her book are stark. Whereas in 1980 77 per cent of American children lived with married parents, in 2019 that share had fallen to 63 per cent. The change was concentrated among children of mothers without a college degree, making marriage increasingly the preserve of the rich. The US — Kearney’s focus — is extreme in this regard. According to a survey by Pew published in 2019, its share of children living with only one parent was triple the global average.
In a style closer to think-tank report than rightwing screed, Kearney, an economist at the University of Maryland, tries to explain the trend. She dismisses the idea that generous welfare benefits are to blame, arguing that they are too stingy to make much of a difference.
Instead, she points to declining economic opportunities for men without college degrees, whose earnings have stagnated during the past four decades. As men have become less marriageable, the women who might have partnered with them have struck out on their own.
Read more at Financialtimes.com
What Are Your Thoughts?
