There has been much literature published on the breakdown of the family unit but in recent years a renewed interest in the subject has been stirred by the controversial nature of same-sex marriages and all the press they have gotten. This has reopened the debate on whether or not the breakdown of the family unit is responsible for crime and poverty and as time goes on, it appears as though it does.
However, validation comes not from a religious perspective as many would like to claim when denying the possibility that a two parent household is important in the development of children, but from a purely socioeconomic perspective. As time goes on, it does appear that the breakdown of the family unit is largely, or at least in part, responsible for a rising crime rate and a life of poverty.
How Same Sex Marriages Can Mirror Traditional Benefits for Children
In a recent study undertaken by the combined efforts of two professors from Harvard University, it was their findings that children from two parent households fared better in the long run than those coming from single parent families. Their findings were not biased by overtones of religion but rather stemming from purely socioeconomic factors.
It is extremely difficult to be a single mother/father and raise a family while giving adequate attention to both children and jobs. Whether it is a same-sex marriage or a traditional marriage, having two parents in the household offered better hope for the future. Children from two parent households went, for the most part, optimistically forward into adulthood getting both a degree and a living wage.
Two Parent Households Provide Better Focus on the Kids
There are few, if any, studies that indicate that it is as easy to give your children the attention they need in a single parent household as would be possible in a two-parent household. By the time you have worked enough hours to pay the bills and have done all the household chores, there is little time or energy left to devote to the children.
Again, the thesis that two parent families offer hope to our youth isn’t based on Judeo-Christian precepts. Yes, you can explore sites like OnFaith, a site for all religions to find that all religions commend family life for offering the greatest opportunities for children but you can also see the implicit understanding that economics has a great deal to do with that hope as well.
General Conclusions:
Rather than blame one group or another for this breakdown of the family unit, maybe a good place to start would be to look at some of the facts and figures that have become available due to these recent studies. Across the board in almost every community studies of all racial and cultural demographics, children from two parent homes fared better in adulthood than those of single parent homes.
This is not to say there won’t be exceptions to the rule, it is just to indicate that as the family unit continues to erode, the prospects for the future of society look grim unless another paradigm is found and developed – that of the extended family in the community at large representing multiple father or mother images to take the place of the missing parent. It’s a thought provoking concept that should be explored.
