Is marriage the antidote to poverty?

Listen to Dave Ross Commentary: Is marriage the antidote to poverty?

Marriage is on the skids, and Rick Santorum has been sounding the alarm:

“We’ve seen the percentage of people married in this country over the last 30 years has dropped from 71 percent of people over the age of 18 being married 30 years ago, now down to 51 percent,” said Santorum.

And it’s not just a moral issue:

“It’s also important for our economy. Two parent families in America are much less likely to be in poverty,” said Santorum.

You’ve heard this many times: two-parent families are much less likely to be in poverty, therefore, by encouraging marriage, we can bring the economy back. And yet, a Valentine’s Day report, just issued by Brookings, tracks marriage rates and incomes over the last forty years…and it finds that for men earning in the top 10 percent, there is no marriage crisis. More than 80 percent are married.

It’s for men earning at the bottom that the marriage rate has dropped down to 50 percent.

This was happening before gay marriage. Instead, it seems to track with the disappearance of well-paid working-class jobs.

You see, women still want to get married but with one caveat: “If you like it then you should have put a ring on it,” sings Beyonce.

Social scientists call this the Beyonce Ultimatum. They want a ring on it, a picket fence around it, and a roof over it. And a man can’t do that unless he has a job.

It’s not the two-parent household that will bring the economy back, it’s the economy that will bring two-parent household back. What she really wants for Valentine’s Day is to see your pay stub.

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