- The rise in one-parent households, primarily outside the college-educated class, is contributing to child poverty, inequality, and social mobility issues in the US.
- Children with two parents are more likely to go to college, graduate, have higher earnings, and get married themselves.
- The economic circumstances of non-college educated men have led to a decrease in the value of marriage for these groups.
- Boys growing up without fathers face challenges and contribute to the societal weakening caused by the breakdown of two-parent families.
- Investing in the skills of non-college educated adults today will have a generational effect on setting up children for success.
- It is important to reestablish the social norm of two-parent families for the well-being of US children, families, and society.
- Strengthening families should be part of the policy response to income inequality and social mobility issues.

Melissa Kearney, University of Maryland Professor gives us a glimpse into why family structure plays a pivotal role in a child's future and why two-parent households are essential for generational economic success.
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Let us understand how you got to where you are in really looking at family structure as an important determining factor.

Income inequality and poverty and social mobility for over 20 years.

And I've been in countless at this point policy conversations and academic conversations about these issues.

And it has become abundantly clear to me that what's happened to families in the U.S.

And in particular the rise in the share of kids living with 1 parent households.

This has primarily happened outside the college-educated class.

These trends are really important to what we're seeing with child poverty, inequality, undermining social mobility.

And I just got to the point where I felt like we couldn't keep having these conversations about income inequality and threats to social mobility without taking up this issue of family structure, and in particular, the class divergence in family structure head on.

It's not just a matter of whether they're living with 2 married parents, but what does it do for their economic security, as it were?

What did you find, Depending on whether you have 2 married parents in the house or not.

Higher income higher educated parents are more likely to be married.

But even adjusting for that and comparing kids who are in otherwise similar situations but for this difference in whether they have 2 parents or 1 parent in the home.

We see that kids with 2 parents they're more likely to go to college.

They're more likely to have higher earnings and be married themselves as adults.

This is why this is an issue we really need to care about because this is yet another way that the college educated class is pulling away from everyone else setting their kids up much in a much better circumstances to graduate college to achieve higher earnings.

And we're perpetuating advantage and disadvantage across generations by allowing this class divergence to persist and not trying to break this cycle.

Melissa another significant factor that you address in the book is gender whether it's the father or the son.

There's a difference and particularly in marriageable men.

1 of the issues is the drop off of marriage.

Here I'm talking about both cause and effect and why this is a really sort of damaging cycle that our society has gotten itself into.

Part of the explanation in my read of the evidence for why marriage has fallen outside the college-educated class, why single motherhood has become much more common outside the college-educated class, is partly driven by the economic circumstances of what's happened to non-college educated men.

So so you know we've talked a lot about this at various points.

There have been a number of shocks you know that have eroded the economic security economic position of non-college educated men.

Both is not in an absolute sense and also relative to what women themselves are earning.

David this has decreased the value of the marriage proposition for these groups.

If men are less likely to be financial providers If they're bringing in less income on their own, then the, you know, less income than the women can bring in on their own, the value proposition of marriage, both for the men and the women in these affected groups, have decreased.

And so I think that's part of the story here.

And we also know that men who are out of work, who aren't stably employed, have a lot of other challenges that might not make them, you know, desirable or reliable partners or fathers in the household.

But then what happens is there's millions of boys growing up without dads in their house.

There's a reams of data in here to really support your your conclusions.

But what can we do about it as a society.

And be more specific with respect to Bloomberg with people who are running companies who need to employ people.

Why is this so important to us and what can we do about it.

All of the you know all of the emphasis we have in our policy debates about increasing skills increasing employability increasing access to family sustaining wages.

All of that should take on heightened urgency when we realize that it's not just affecting the economic insecurity of individuals, but is really spilled over into the social sphere, pulled men apart from families in a way that's really weakened society and has ramifications going forward.

So also investing in the skills of non-college educated adults today will have this generational effect of setting kids up in homes where they're better able to succeed in the education system to develop their own skills to be more productive workers in the future and contribute more to a positive society.

So all of that takes on heightened urgency when we recognize the impact it's having on families.

Outside of that I think it's really important.

And again potentially uncomfortable but important that we reestablish a social norm of 2 parent families for kids in this country.

Kids are now being raised outside a two-parent home more than in any other country in the world is not good for U.S.

It's not good for the single parents whose economic security is undermined.

And it's not good for society more broadly.

Commit to strengthening families as part of our policy response to increasing income inequality eroding social inequality.


Speaker 0: Let us understand how you got to where you are in really looking at family structure as an important determining factor.

Speaker 1: Well David I have been studying U.S. Income inequality and poverty and social mobility for over 20 years. And I've been in countless at this point policy conversations and academic conversations about these issues. And it has become abundantly clear to me that what's happened to families in the U.S. And in particular the rise in the share of kids living with 1 parent households.

This has primarily happened outside the college-educated class. These trends are really important to what we're seeing with child poverty, inequality, undermining social mobility. And I just got to the point where I felt like we couldn't keep having these conversations about income inequality and threats to social mobility without taking up this issue of family structure, and in particular, the class divergence in family structure head on.

Speaker 0: It's not just a matter of whether they're living with 2 married parents, but what does it do for their economic security, as it were? What did you find, Depending on whether you have 2 married parents in the house or not.

Speaker 1: Higher income higher educated parents are more likely to be married. But even adjusting for that and comparing kids who are in otherwise similar situations but for this difference in whether they have 2 parents or 1 parent in the home. We see that kids with 2 parents they're more likely to go to college. They're more likely to graduate college. They're more likely to have higher earnings and be married themselves as adults.

This is why this is an issue we really need to care about because this is yet another way that the college educated class is pulling away from everyone else setting their kids up much in a much better circumstances to graduate college to achieve higher earnings. And we're perpetuating advantage and disadvantage across generations by allowing this class divergence to persist and not trying to break this cycle.

Speaker 0: Melissa another significant factor that you address in the book is gender whether it's the father or the son. There's a difference and particularly in marriageable men. 1 of the issues is the drop off of marriage. Well that was really struck me. I was quite surprised at that.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Here I'm talking about both cause and effect and why this is a really sort of damaging cycle that our society has gotten itself into. Part of the explanation in my read of the evidence for why marriage has fallen outside the college-educated class, why single motherhood has become much more common outside the college-educated class, is partly driven by the economic circumstances of what's happened to non-college educated men. So so you know we've talked a lot about this at various points. There have been a number of shocks you know that have eroded the economic security economic position of non-college educated men.

Both is not in an absolute sense and also relative to what women themselves are earning. This is here. I'm going to sound very unromantic. David this has decreased the value of the marriage proposition for these groups. If men are less likely to be financial providers If they're bringing in less income on their own, then the, you know, less income than the women can bring in on their own, the value proposition of marriage, both for the men and the women in these affected groups, have decreased.

And so I think that's part of the story here. And we also know that men who are out of work, who aren't stably employed, have a lot of other challenges that might not make them, you know, desirable or reliable partners or fathers in the household. So that's part of the story. But then what happens is there's millions of boys growing up without dads in their house.

Speaker 0: You've identified an issue. There's a reams of data in here to really support your your conclusions. But what can we do about it as a society. And be more specific with respect to Bloomberg with people who are running companies who need to employ people. We need to keep the economy going.

Why is this so important to us and what can we do about it.

Speaker 1: OK well the first I'll start there. All of the you know all of the emphasis we have in our policy debates about increasing skills increasing employability increasing access to family sustaining wages. All of that should take on heightened urgency when we realize that it's not just affecting the economic insecurity of individuals, but is really spilled over into the social sphere, pulled men apart from families in a way that's really weakened society and has ramifications going forward. So also investing in the skills of non-college educated adults today will have this generational effect of setting kids up in homes where they're better able to succeed in the education system to develop their own skills to be more productive workers in the future and contribute more to a positive society. So all of that takes on heightened urgency when we recognize the impact it's having on families.

Outside of that I think it's really important. And again potentially uncomfortable but important that we reestablish a social norm of 2 parent families for kids in this country. The fact that 30 percent of U.S. Kids are now being raised outside a two-parent home more than in any other country in the world is not good for U.S. Kids.

It's not good for families. It's not good for the single parents whose economic security is undermined. And it's not good for society more broadly. We need to be honest about that. Commit to strengthening families as part of our policy response to increasing income inequality eroding social inequality.

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Kearney: Need to Re-Establish Norm of Two-Parent Households