Over the past four years, I have had the privilege of working closely with Birthright Living Legacy (BRLL). It is an Oklahoma-based organization that specializes in providing fathers with education and social support so that they can thrive in their familial roles and relationships. For far too long, support for families has been primarily focused on women and children. While this emphasis is certainly understandable, families still struggle when fathers are out of the picture. By supporting fathers, Birthright brings much-needed balance to the goal of having stronger American families.
Given my work with Birthright, I was naturally intrigued by Melissa Kearney’s book The Two Parent Privilege. An economist by training, Kearney provides compelling empirical evidence, emphasizing the considerable advantages afforded to children of married, two-parent households. Based on 25 years of research, Kearney leverages national data (e.g., the US Census, the American Community Survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and the American Time Use Survey) exhibiting strong links between family structure and children’s achievement, behavioral problems, and educational attainment.
Academics like Kearney usually shy away from the topic of family structure. It is a justifiably emotional topic for many people, and discussions of it can seem as if divorced or single parents are being blamed for broader social challenges. Kearney acknowledges this problem but contends that it is not something we can choose to ignore. In the book, she convincingly shows how the growth of single-parenthood in the US is tightly linked to widening inequality for families and children. Growing up in a single parent household is associated with less education and reduced economic prosperity.
The Rise of Single-parent Homes in The United States
Kearney demonstrates that there has been a dramatic decline of two-parent homes and a commensurate increase in single-parent homes over the past half century. About one in four American children now live in a single parent home – the highest rate of single parenthood in the world. What’s surprising in the book is that the decline in two-parent homes is not being driven by divorce rates (though those are rising). Instead, the decline in two-parent homes is being driven by births occurring out of wedlock at a much higher rate than ever before. In these cases, most single parents are unpartnered mothers, non-college-educated, and low-income earners from African American and Hispanic backgrounds. However, White families have also experienced rises in the number of single-parent households while only a very small percentage of Asian children are raised in single-parent homes. The book compares American data with that of other countries as well. Children in the U.S. are three times more likely to live in a one-parent household than children in other developed countries are.
Like Kearney, I found the overall trends hard to ignore. But what actually happens in single-parent homes that makes them less advantageous for children? Kearney makes the case that two parents are better than one when it comes to the division of labor, time for children, and children’s resources. This argument makes sense, and in some ways, should be obvious. Children raised by two parents possess an overall “resource advantage” over children raised in single-parent households. Furthermore, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Panel Survey of Income Dynamics, children from single parent homes are much less likely to graduate high school and obtain a college degree than children from two-parent homes. In short, no other family institution appears to mirror the sizable resource advantage conferred to children through the formal institution of marriage.
Marriageability of Men
In the book, Kearney argues that the increase in single-parenthood, specifically single-motherhood, is partly perpetuated by the declining “economic value” of non-college educated men. Yet, the evidence that she presents to support this point ends up disproving her argument. Kearney chronicles one of her own studies that looks at the sudden increase in male income from the oil fracking boom in the early 2000s. She finds that the improvement in the economic value of non-college educated men did not lead to increased marriage rates and did not reduce the proportion of births to unmarried women. Consequently, the explanation that poor economic prospects are contributing to the rise of single-parent homes is not too convincing in the book.
Fathers and Sons
Raising children increases the demand for resources. The book explains how this demand is multifaceted, encompassing an increased need for financial, physical, and emotional resources. According to Kearney, government and community support are insufficient to close the large gap between children in two-parent and single-parent households, so she feels that we must bring fathers back “into the family fold”.
Kearney goes on to marshal data on how boys are struggling and fairing worse than girls in single-parent homes. According to Kearney, the absence of fathers in the home removes the availability of a proximal male role model for boys, leading to greater challenges for many boys in school and society. The presence of fathers in African American households is particularly beneficial for the welfare and social advancement of African American boys. From research presented in the book, African American boys who grow up in low-income neighborhoods where there is a higher percentage of fathers (63%) have higher rates of upward mobility when compared to their counterparts who grow up in low-income neighborhoods that have a lower percentage of fathers (25%).
What Can Be Done?
Kearney brings the book to a close by proposing ways to respond to the many challenges of rising single-parent homes in the United States. She begins by asserting that social norms among Americans have probably led to the changes in family structure that we are observing today. She argues that solutions are needed that respond to both economic and social forces. In other words, simply throwing money at the problem is unlikely to solve it. Unsurprising then, her foremost proposal is for American institutions to promote social norms that stress the importance of two-parent homes. She rightly acknowledges that promoting marriage does not necessarily mean that staying married is the best choice for everyone, such as in cases of spousal and child abuse. Still, a critique of the book is that it leaves readers wanting to know more about how social norms can truly be transformed in ways that will reduce the number of children being raised in single-parent homes.
Her second proposal is to increase the marriageability of non-college-educated men through concerted efforts to restore their economic value although, as noted, the book does not make a strong argument for why this would work. Kearney also generally wants to strengthen resources for parents, particularly those in lower-income brackets. She calls for the establishment of public support for under-resourced and low-income families irrespective of family structure.
Considerations for School Leaders
In The Two-Parent Privilege, Kearney demonstrates that marriage clearly provides the best economic and social benefits for children. The topic of this book is not an easy one to raise within school communities and some aspects of it probably fall outside of the purview of school policy and practice. School leaders may justifiably prefer to stay away from handing out advice on marriage to families. Nevertheless, there are opportunities for education and training for families through home, school, and community collaboration. For instance, the training and support programs offered by Birthright Living Legacy are currently being implemented in several early childhood schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The program focuses on the well-being of children and promoting the long-term involvement of fathers in their children’s lives but without interfering in how parents choose to define their personal relationships. School leaders may need to explore what opportunities are available in their communities. In light of the data, it is hard to imagine having truly thriving schools without strong two-parent families.
Author Bio
Olajumoke Adigun is Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Oklahoma State University.
