The Liberty Hawk

The poverty rate in the United States, according to the US Census Bureau, is 12.3%. This comes despite a full-scale “War on Poverty” as declared by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Welfare spending has gone up, consistently, since the 1960s, and yet the poverty rate has remained essentially unchanged since 1970 when it was 12%. There are a variety of problems easily diagnosed as stemming from this massive increase in government spending. The most prominent of which is the current national debt, standing at 22 trillion dollars. One problem stemming from these programs, however, has not gotten the attention it deserves in public discourse, though it is the most pressing epidemic America has ever faced. This problem is that of single motherhood.  

To start, let us begin by looking at a glaring statistic: the single motherhood rate in the United States. According to the US Census Bureau, 23% of children live in a household with a single mother. This has increased at an alarming rate since 1960 when the nationwide rate of single motherhood was 8%. These statistics, while surprising in themselves, become more so when broken down by race. The single motherhood rate for white families is a mere 13%. While for black families it is a startling 43%. This disparity has always existed, though not to this degree. In 1960, the single motherhood rate in the white community was 6% while the rate in the black community was 20%.  

These statistics are bad in and of themselves, but the consequences of single motherhood, and more broadly single parenthood, is even more disastrous. Children raised in single-mother households are far more likely to develop mental illness than children from a two-parent household. And, 85% of children diagnosed with behavioral disorders come from single-parent households. 71% of high school dropouts are from single-parent households. 62% of youth suicides come from households with one parent. The list goes on. Single parenthood is bad for children across-the-board. 

Single motherhood is not just a marker for mental illness. As mentioned in the lead paragraph, poverty and single motherhood are directly linked. 90% of welfare recipients are single mothers. Over 30% of single mother households live beneath the poverty line. Single motherhood is the single greatest indicator of poverty in the United States.  

We can rectify these problems if we recognize their sources. We can easily trace the rise of single motherhood back to the 1960s. In this decade, the US saw huge cultural and economic shifts across the board. The Sexual Revolution decoupled marriage from sex, which meant that the odds of having a child out of wedlock went up.

The 1960s also saw the decline of church activity in the US, which has led to the disintegration of the social fabric. Finally, in 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson declared his famous “War on Poverty”, creating and expanding welfare programs at a federal level.

The correlation between these events and the collapse of the nuclear family is clear. So is the solution. On a political level, the government must stop subsidizing single-parent households with welfare programs specifically targeted at those households.

However, we must do most of the heavy lifting at the societal level. Regardless of whether someone engages in this or not, we as a society must begin to recognize that there are consequences to having sex without the cultural bond of marriage. This does not mean we need to shame or ostracize those who do so. It merely means we must understand what may happen if the conduct in question occurs.

As a society, we must also appreciate the role churches play, especially in rural communities. Churches hold the social fabric together, and we must re-embrace religion as a way of bringing people together. Every man and woman is free to do what he or she chooses. However, to paraphrase the Founding Fathers, freedom such as we have is only for a people who recognize the role that virtue, especially that which comes with religion, plays in safeguarding that freedom.

Scott Howard is a constitutionally-minded conservative freelance writer with a focus on fiscal matters and foreign policy. You can follow him on Twitter: Follow @thenextTedCruz

Editor’s Note: Most people, hopefully, recognize that single-parent homes can have terrible consequences. However, recognizing the causes and finding solutions for this epidemic might be more difficult than we’d like.

Many progressives, for example, would direct us to the link between single-motherhood and the high incarceration rate for impoverished males, especially among African Americans. Further, simply ending welfare support for single-parent households could make the problem worse depending on how such an action is carried out. After all, in most cases, it is the father who has left his family.

We want to ensure that whatever policies we enact are not seen as punishing the women who are bravely sticking with their children. Single-motherhood may have statistics that make us pause, but I’m sure the statistics get even worse when the children aren’t raised by at least one biological parent or become wards of the state. We should carefully consider whether removing the “subsidizing” of single-parent households might make it far more difficult, if not impossible in some cases, for the single=parent to provide for his/her family. -Justin

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Scott Howard

Scott Howard is a constitutionally-minded conservative freelance writer with a focus on fiscal matters and foreign policy. His Twitter handle is @theNextTedCruz.

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