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"Their book suggests that many women don't marry the father of their child not because they reject the concept of marriage, but because they do not see him as a

"Their book suggests that many women don't marry the father of their child not because they reject the concept of marriage, but because they do not see him as a reliable source of economic security or stability." Marriage is not a magical thing that fixes economic problems, even if you want to keep turning the clock back and make certain acts outside of marriage illegal. The only thing that fixes economic problems is money. "Kearney says she wants to grab the attention of both conservatives who say they care about children's well-being and progressives reluctant to talk about family structures, because the link between single parenting, inequality and mobility in America is too strong to deny." Marriage is not a magical thing that creates good family structures, and parents can be deadbeat parents even within a marriage. It might give people motivation to stick around, but families that "stick together for the children" can have A) abuse, and B) the same sort of economic problems as unmarried if one or both parents aren't working. What does enable good family structures is support, provided by extended family or other things.

hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago
I would like to hear from people who downvote you their reasons. In discussions such as these where nuances matter a lot, a downvote (or upvote) is meaningless.
- ryanklee 3y ago
  Dowbvotes could very well be because GP is putting words in the paper's mouth. And not very good words either.
COGlory 3y ago
>Marriage is not a magical thing that creates good family structures, and parents can be deadbeat parents even within a marriage. It might give people motivation to stick around, but families that "stick together for the children" can have A) abuse, and B) the same sort of economic problems as unmarried if one or both parents aren't working. What does enable good family structures is support, provided by extended family or other things. We're talking about on average though. Those things might happen, but only in a very small number of cases, and on average forcing a marriage to "work" might still be better.
- pixl97 3y ago
  >and on average forcing a marriage to "work" might still be better. For the children yes, and in a time when you had little information and were told it was your purpose in life to have children this might have worked. Today this is just going to lead people to say "Well, fuck having children", and with the US child fertility rate at 1.64 this seems to be the 'average' decision that has been taken.
chadash 3y ago
> Marriage is not a magical thing that fixes economic problems, even if you want to keep turning the clock back and make certain acts outside of marriage illegal. The only thing that fixes economic problems is money. Speaking as a parent, I’m not sure this is true. If I didn’t have my wife, then I would need to take twice as many sick days for my kids, which would be very tough on my career. I wouldn’t have an extra salary (or if she didn’t work, then a full time person caring for my kids). I wouldn’t have someone to split school pickup/drop off with, which again would be very taxing on my career. I’d still need the same amount of space in my home with or without my wife. And all of this also means that we have more time for child/parent interactions at home. So yeah, I think there’s huge benefits to having a spouse around while raising kids.
- Atheros 3y ago
  He talked about not having a marriage and you misread it as not having a partner. That's a pretty severe misunderstanding and I'm very curious what caused it.

hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago

I would like to hear from people who downvote you their reasons. In discussions such as these where nuances matter a lot, a downvote (or upvote) is meaningless.

ryanklee 3y ago
Dowbvotes could very well be because GP is putting words in the paper's mouth. And not very good words either.

COGlory 3y ago

>Marriage is not a magical thing that creates good family structures, and parents can be deadbeat parents even within a marriage. It might give people motivation to stick around, but families that "stick together for the children" can have A) abuse, and B) the same sort of economic problems as unmarried if one or both parents aren't working. What does enable good family structures is support, provided by extended family or other things. We're talking about on average though. Those things might happen, but only in a very small number of cases, and on average forcing a marriage to "work" might still be better.

pixl97 3y ago
>and on average forcing a marriage to "work" might still be better. For the children yes, and in a time when you had little information and were told it was your purpose in life to have children this might have worked. Today this is just going to lead people to say "Well, fuck having children", and with the US child fertility rate at 1.64 this seems to be the 'average' decision that has been taken.

chadash 3y ago

> Marriage is not a magical thing that fixes economic problems, even if you want to keep turning the clock back and make certain acts outside of marriage illegal. The only thing that fixes economic problems is money. Speaking as a parent, I’m not sure this is true. If I didn’t have my wife, then I would need to take twice as many sick days for my kids, which would be very tough on my career. I wouldn’t have an extra salary (or if she didn’t work, then a full time person caring for my kids). I wouldn’t have someone to split school pickup/drop off with, which again would be very taxing on my career. I’d still need the same amount of space in my home with or without my wife. And all of this also means that we have more time for child/parent interactions at home. So yeah, I think there’s huge benefits to having a spouse around while raising kids.

Atheros 3y ago
He talked about not having a marriage and you misread it as not having a partner. That's a pretty severe misunderstanding and I'm very curious what caused it.