Georgians look past government to solve child poverty
America’s five-decade war on poverty has made quite clear which social ill is most closely tied to child poverty. Yet, we haven’t taken the first shot at it. Fortunately, some Georgians are finally ready to take the fight where it needs to go.
I’m talking about the breakdown of the two-parent family and births out of wedlock. No other social factor comes closer to explaining why some people are poor and others aren’t.
Not education: In Georgia, the child of two married high school dropouts is less likely to be poor than the child of a single mother who has taken some college classes. More striking, a single mother with a college degree is more likely to live in poverty than are two married high school grads with a child.
Education matters. It’s just not the most important factor when it comes to child poverty.
Nor is race or ethnicity: Poverty rates are higher in Georgia for blacks and Hispanics than for whites. However, a white single parent is almost four times more likely to be poor than are married black parents, and slightly more likely than are married Hispanic parents. Births to unwed women are rising across racial groups.
Perhaps no statistic gets at it more quickly than these two: Three-quarters of poor families with children in Georgia are unmarried. And marriage drops the probability of child poverty in Georgia by 82 percent.
“The collapse of marriage … is the primary reason that you have child poverty,” the Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector said Wednesday in Atlanta.
Rector was in town at the behest of the Georgia Family Council, which just launched a multiyear initiative called Breakthrough Georgia to address the real roots of poverty.
While GFC will seek some new legislation to help the cause, it’s not going to wait around for government solutions. The idea is to find private experts and community groups close to the problems, and raise private funds to pay for the programs they develop.
“Government can only do so much,” said GFC President Randy Hicks, especially when it’s already “stretched thin” financially. And existing welfare programs often exacerbate the problem by giving more money to mothers who aren’t married.
The first task is to identify why so many Georgia women are having children before marriage — already 45 percent of all births in the state and, without action, likely a majority within five years, Rector predicted.
It’s not just teens. There are twice as many unwed births to mothers over 30 than to mothers under 18. Sixty percent are to women in their 20s.
Nor is it a matter of disdain for marriage, Rector said: “These mothers … esteem the institution of marriage.”
“[But] their understanding of it tends to be idealized,” he said, “like you only marry when you’re in the middle class.”
For a starting place, Rector said, Breakthrough Georgia simply needs to tell women unmarried births are a problem.
“If you want to reduce a behavior in society, you have to tell people,” he said, making an analogy to smoking. “You have never told a single one of these young women … that having a child without being married is the royal root to persistent child poverty.”
The compounding effect of generation after generation of unwed mothers means we are “effectively dividing into two social castes,” Rector said. One with the social knowledge to save child-rearing for marriage, and one without it.
Much of the inequality in society flows from that gap. That’s the gap to bridge.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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223 comments Add your comment
Hilarious
October 23rd, 2011
2:07 pm
Terrible argument, but I don’t expect much more.
Child poverty has less to do with out of wedlock births and more to do with how poor their parents are.
Obviously.
But go ahead and ignore that fact. We have an ax to grind here!
Grind away!
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
October 23rd, 2011
2:50 pm
Too darn funny. The OWS losers fighting over the donations in their account.
Greedy parasites.
southerngal
October 23rd, 2011
2:52 pm
Until we teach people that…if you cannot afford to live on your own…why would you have a child?
The Fierce Urgency of NOW
October 23rd, 2011
3:52 pm
The collapse of marriage … is the primary reason that you have child poverty,” the Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector said Wednesday in Atlanta.
There are a million reasons why there is child proverty. But do we wait to find the answer before we feed and cloth these children. Why can’t we do both?
It is not the child’s fault so they should not have to suffer.
Al
October 23rd, 2011
4:26 pm
Go Occupy Atlanta!!! Tell Mayor KISS ME Reed to go shove it. If he’s not part of the solution, then he’s part of the problem!
Pagan1
October 23rd, 2011
4:42 pm
How about if the fathers of these children to single mothers were made to pay for their mistakes. The fathers are just as responsible for un-wed mothers having children. Make it a law that if a woman has a child the father is responsible too. Most of these losers don’t pay child support and never take care of their mistakes. And for added measure instead of paying the mothers to stay home and not work – use that money to pay for childcare facilities so that they can go out and get jobs instead of becoming dependent on welfare. Sound good Gov?
UIC
October 23rd, 2011
5:10 pm
Wow, I’m male and embarrassed by most of what I’ve read. I think I can assume it is not the women blaming themselves, so I’m happy to see the male population has the unmitigated gall, the temerity to say that women are the ones that have the control. What are men? Uncivilized animals. Tell me if I look through every post I’ll find a recommendation for forced sterilization.
roughrider
October 23rd, 2011
5:24 pm
If the government put a time limit on aid from DFACS, a lot of these baby factories would keep their legs together.
bev
October 23rd, 2011
5:30 pm
And you have to ask the question, why do men who are less educated make more money than women?? Doesn’t make sense. Over 90% of single parents are women. It’s time for womens’ pay to equal that of men!!
catlady
October 23rd, 2011
5:56 pm
Aid supposedly DOES have a time limit. I håve never known anyone to get put off welfare, however. I think mothers are also required to name the father. I wonder if anything happens when they don’t? And, as for not letting the children suffer: Hearing your children crying of want MIGHT just motivate some folks to get up and find some paying work–as long as they choose something legal.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
October 23rd, 2011
6:52 pm
The centrist, moderate and independent AJC is just itching to go full Palin on local man done good Herman Cain but, for now, they restrain themselves with only one hit piece a day-
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential contender Herman Cain used campaign funds to buy his own books from his motivational speaking company, Federal Election Commission records show. -Urinal
Oh my, the Urinal has issues with the misuse of campaign funds, why, obozo would never do anything like that.
Obama’s backers urge black unity -Urinal
Wow, such hard hitting journalism.
@@
October 23rd, 2011
6:56 pm
Al:
If he’s not part of the solution, then he’s part of the problem!
What EXACTLY is the problem that Mayor Reed is supposed to solve?
UIC:
What are men?
Opportunists. Any woman with a brain knows that.
@@
October 23rd, 2011
7:00 pm
catlady:
I think mothers are also required to name the father. I wonder if anything happens when they don’t?
Having multiple sex partners leaves too many women wondering who the father is. It costs money to find out.
@@
October 23rd, 2011
7:08 pm
Allow me to expand on my 6:56.
Most, but not all men are opportunists.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
October 23rd, 2011
7:20 pm
Obama’s backers urge black unity -Urinal
—————————–
racial prejudice: any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable, based on race
Ray
October 23rd, 2011
7:35 pm
Very poorly written article. Even for the ajc.
td
October 23rd, 2011
8:34 pm
roughrider
October 23rd, 2011
5:24 pm
If the government put a time limit on aid from DFACS, a lot of these baby factories would keep their legs together.
The Feds write the rules not the states. The states have some latitude but not a lot. Time limits, no.
td
October 23rd, 2011
8:42 pm
Pagan1
October 23rd, 2011
4:42 pm
How about if the fathers of these children to single mothers were made to pay for their mistakes. The fathers are just as responsible for un-wed mothers having children. Make it a law that if a woman has a child the father is responsible too. Most of these losers don’t pay child support and never take care of their mistakes.
Child support is the one part of family law in the state of Ga. that is set in stone and the state has an entire agency to track down fathers, establish paternity and set up payments. If a man has a job and wages are reported anywhere then they will pay. CSE will also suspend DL’s and any other certificates people hold to collect CS. The problem is when the mother is either does not know or will not name the father.
LizBeth
October 23rd, 2011
9:30 pm
The poor, single women I know want to be married but they left abusive men and are trying to change their lives for the better. They are divorced after trying desperately to hang on to the wedding band while they and their children got their faces rearranged by their men. Dems offer welfare as a stopgap while they also try to educate and support men and women in how to have successful relationships. Meanwhile, Repubs just say no to welfare, education programs, and support because they think saying “no” (or requiring belief in God) will fix everything.
seabeau
October 24th, 2011
6:53 am
First: We need to require that all women on welfare have birth control implanted.If the birth control fails ,the child is not the responsibility of the state. Second: periodic home inspections:(if the children are not being properly cared for,remove them and place them in a state supported orphanage where these children will be taught to be good citizens).We need to stop the cycle of raising little gang bangers on the publics dime.
LizBeth
October 24th, 2011
9:08 am
And why, Seabeau, is it always women who must be done to? Women must have birth control, women must not have abortions, women must have babies, women must be responsible for themselves, women must put up with men, women must take take care of the children, women must take care of the home, women must support their homes, women must be the slaves in our society…..or else we’ll come up with something else they must do. Meanwhile, you would have them subjected to total control by the government, who is then not responsible when both birth control and mind control fails. Why? Your taxes aren’t going to go down; they will just be transferred from health and welfare to somewhere else that you’ll hate. Supporting constant reevaluation of welfare, its goals, and its impact on families and our society would be a wiser use of your nickels and dimes.
td
October 24th, 2011
9:44 am
LizBeth
October 24th, 2011
9:08 am
If there is abuse( that is provable beyond a reasonable doubt) then the abused (woman or man) should receive the children, the abusing parent only gets supervised visits and the abusing party should pay through the nose. In all other cases then it is in the best interest of the child to have a continuous relationship with two loving parents. Both parents should have visitation as close to 50/50 as possible with both parents having equal decision making ability for the raising of the child.
If you take the money and control of the children out of a divorce and let the parents know upfront that no matter if married or divorced that you two WILL work together and must compromise with each other until the child is 18, then the divorce rate will decrease tremendously.
td
October 24th, 2011
9:53 am
td
October 24th, 2011
9:44 am
LizBeth
October 24th, 2011
9:08 am
To add on to the above comments. The rules should also apply to children born out of wedlock. Both parents should be responsible for raising the child. If one parent chooses to take the responsibility for raising the child then the more that parent should pay. Also, if it is proven that one parent refuses to be a good co parent and obstructs the other parents involvement then that parent should loose their rights to co parent and those rights totally go to the other parent.