While exercise and a better diet are the most-touted health contributors, marriage, as recent research suggests, can be a significant factor as well.
For example, married individuals tend to report better health. According to the National Health Interview Survey, 89.2 percent of married adults report being in good or very good health, compared to 85.4 percent of never-married adults, 84.4 percent of cohabiting individuals, 83.1 percent of those who are divorced or separated, and 71.9 percent of widows and widowers.
Other health outcomes linked to marriage include higher levels of psychological well-being, reduced alcohol abuse, and better physical health.
A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which reviewed the highest-quality research on the subject since 1990, concludes, “In some areas, the evidence of a positive effect of marriage on specific health outcomes is compelling. In particular, there is strong evidence, based on rigorous research methods, that marriage reduces the prevalence of heavy drinking and marijuana use among young adults.”
Moreover, marriage “is also linked to improvements in mental health for both men and women. In addition, marriage increases the likelihood of having health insurance coverage, particularly for women.”
In addition, the study concludes, “Recent research suggests that marriage may be associated with lower health care costs among older adults, through its effect on the number of doctor visits, the length of hospital stays, and the likelihood of admissions.”
Finally, “there is also substantial evidence that growing up with married parents leads to better long-term physical health, particularly for men.”
Planned Parenthood’s Annual Report: Got $487.4M in Tax Money, Did 329,445 Abortions
by Penny Starr January 3, 2011 According to its latest annual report, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) received $487.4 million in tax dollars over a twelve-month period and performed 329,455 abortions.In addition, the number of adoption referrals made by the organization continued to decline.
The latest annual report covers the period from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010, the PPFA’s fiscal year. Thereport states that the organization received “government health services grants and reimbursements” totaling $487.4 million.
Previous Planned Parenthood annual reports showed total funding from “government grants and contracts” (which were $363.2 million in 2009), while this year’s report also accounts for payments from Medicaid managed care plans among the payments the group receives from government .
When compared with previous annual reports, the latest one shows an almost steady increase in the number of abortions performed at its clinics: In 2006, Planned Parenthood did 289,750 abortions; in 2007, it did 305,310; in 2009, it did 331,796; and, in 2010, it did 329,445--a small decrease from the previous year.
By PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY 08/15/201 Illegitimate births for all Americans have risen from 26% in 1990 to 41% today "and could be headed higher." Among Hispanics, illegitimacy is 53%, among blacks it's 73% and among whites it has risen to a shocking 29%.Father’s Day and the Importance of Marriage by Rachel Sheffield by June 17, 2011 For many Americans, poverty is hidden from view, and its reality is conveniently tucked out of sight and out of mind in places like inner cities or across rural landscapes. The effects of poverty, though, are all too real for those suffering in the shadows.
Consider one startling fact: Children from single-parent families (most of which are headed by a single mother) are over five times as likely to live in poverty than are those from married families. The Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector points to the root cause of the tragedy of child poverty in America:
...There are other facts to back up his claim. Single-parent families account for roughly 80 percent of all long-term poverty in the United States. Not surprisingly then, nearly three-quarters of all children whose families receive welfare come from single-parent homes.
Unfortunately, as Father’s Day 2011 approaches, it is a harsh fact that more children today are being raised without their fathers as the number of unwed births in the U.S. is at its all-time high. In 1960, just over 5 percent of babies were born to single women, whereas today that number is nearly eight times higher at more than 40 percent.
The good news, however, is that marriage is a protective force against poverty, with its effects spanning demographic boundaries such as race and education level. Whereas nearly 40 percent of African-American children from single-parent homes are poor, that number is cut to below 13 percent if the parents are married. For Hispanics, the poverty rates for single- and married-parent families are approximately 35 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Furthermore, comparing families of similar education levels, marriage drops the poverty level by an average of 80 percent.
There is also research to suggest that marriages in the United States are lasting longer among some populations—the more affluent, for example. But for those from lower-income communities, the story is quite the opposite. Tragically, those most likely to have a child outside of marriage are also those most likely to struggle financially as single mothers.
The Conservative Phoenix By Bruce Walker August 2, 2010 Four out of every ten new mothers are not married to the father of their child. The percentage of teenage girls giving birth to children is rising steadily. Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies end in abortion. Half of all pregnancies in our country end in out-of-wedlock births or in abortion. Infanticide and illegitimacy are pure social corrosives. The family, the truest "social safety net," has been beaten black and blue by advocates of sexual amorality.
Morning Bell: Fathers Who Are Husbands Spare Children from Poverty at The Heritage Foundation June 18th, 2010 About two of every three poor children live in single-parent households. Yet if poor single moms married the fathers of their children, nearly two out of three would be lifted out of poverty.
And contrary to the mainstream media line, teen pregnancy is a small part of the picture: In 2008, the most recent year for which data is available, babies born to girls under 18 accounted for 130,000, or 7.5 percent, of the total 1.72 million out-of-wedlock births.
It’s not as simple as young men “manning up” and becoming the lawfully wedded husbands of their girlfriends, live-in or otherwise. These unmarried mothers tend to be in their 20s, without much income or education. They come to depend on public assistance; many learn how to work the welfare system.
Research shows that a child raised in a home where Dad is married to Mom is much less likely to live in poverty, get arrested as a juvenile, be suspended or expelled from school, be treated for emotional or behavioral problems, or drop out before completing high school. Taxpayers foot the bill for more than $300 billion a year in means-tested government spending on low-income single moms – and, in relatively rare cases, single dads. ...
For most on the Left, marriage is, at best, an antiquated institution, a red-state superstition. From this viewpoint, the real task is to expand government subsidies as a post-marriage society is built.
Marriage and Poverty in the U.S.: By the Numbers by The Heritage Foundation in 2010 This is a great overview of poverty and its relation to single parent homes.
Marriage under Assault in Federal Courts: Why It Matters at The Heritage Foundation July 16th, 2010 Marriage is under intensified assault in two federal courtrooms.
Last week a federal district judge in Massachusetts acted alone to overrule 427 members of Congress who voted in 1996 to adopt the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a measure signed into law by President Clinton.
DOMA has two major provisions. First, it affirms that the definition of marriage and related words like spouse and husband in federal law refers only to relationships between one man and one woman. Second, the law sets forth the intent of Congress that none of the 50 states are required to give “full faith and credit” to the action of any other state legislature or court that redefines marriage as anything but the union of a man and a woman.
The judge struck down the first provision of DOMA. The immediate effect of the ruling, if it is upheld, will be to overturn more than 1,100 laws conferring benefits and privileges on same-sex couples with Massachusetts marriage certificates. But the court’s ruling is not really about expanding benefits and rights. The court struck a much deeper blow, holding that Congress had no rational basis whatsoever to protect traditional marriage. The ruling inferred that the huge pro-DOMA bipartisan majorities in Congress, and presumably President Clinton, could only have been motivated by “animus” and “irrational prejudice.”
Understanding Illegitimacy by Robert Rector
April 12, 2010
According to CDC, a record 40.6 percent of children born in 2008
were born outside marriage — a total of 1.72 million
children. The overwhelming majority of the unwed
mothers were young adults with low education levels,
precisely the kind of individuals who have the
greatest difficulty going it alone in our society.
Only about 7.5 percent of
these out-of-wedlock births, 130,000, were to girls
under 18. Of course, these births can be disastrous
for the girls involved. But as a social problem,
teen pregnancies and births are of quite limited
importance. By contrast, 1.72 million out-of-wedlock
births amount to an overwhelming catastrophe for
taxpayers and society.
The steady growth of childbearing by single women and the general
collapse of marriage, especially among the poor, lie
at the heart of the mushrooming welfare state. This
year, taxpayers will spend over $300 billion
providing means-tested welfare aid to single
parents. The average single mother receives nearly
three dollars in government benefits for each dollar
she pays in taxes. These subsidies are funded
largely by the heavy taxes paid by higher-income
married couples.
America is rapidly becoming a two-caste society, with
marriage and education at the dividing line.
Children born to married couples with a college
education are mostly in the top half of the
population; children born to single mothers with
high-school degrees or less are mostly in the bottom
half.
The
disappearance of marriage in low-income communities
is the predominant cause of child poverty in the
U.S.
today. If poor single mothers were married to the
fathers of their children, two-thirds of them would
not be poor. The absence of a husband and father
from the home also is a strong contributing factor
to failure in school, crime, drug abuse, emotional
disturbance, and a host of other social problems.
Abusegate and Children by February 8, 2010 The latest National Incidence of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-3) reveals a 67 percent increase in the incidence of child maltreatment since 1986 and a 149 percent increase since 1980. The NIS-3 reports, not surprisingly, that children of single parents were “overrepresented” compared to their counterparts living with both parents. While predators may target any child, the data is overwhelming: the safest place for a child is with his or her married mother and father; all other household arrangements carry a higher risk of abuse and neglect.
These unstable cohabiting households are dangerous places for children. The United States leads the developed nations in the number of child maltreatment deaths. The child abuse death rate for American children is three times higher than Canada’s, is higher than Japan’s, Germany’s, France’s, the United Kingdom’s, and 11 times higher than Italy’s.
The War against Fathers by September 21, 2009 Dan Brewington is among the latest casualties in a war against fathers that is tearing our nation apart, family by family. The Ripley and Dearborn County (Indiana) court system recently stripped him of his parental rights without reason or cause. He is no longer able to see his daughters despite his history of loving care for them and their strong bond with him.
Mr. Brewington has neither a criminal history nor a Social Services history. He is loved by his children whom he has taken excellent care of their entire lives. He has also demonstrated his ability to successfully parent the children under joint custody with the mother for the past 2 ½ years. Yet his rights were violated during divorce proceedings in which Judge Humphrey of Dearborn County ordered him to have no visitation with his children. ...
In the divorce decree this judge awarded items, to the mother, that were not marital assets but were instead material possessions of Mr. Brewington’s family members and friends, to which neither Mr. Brewington nor his wife are entitled.
Nanny state snatches kids for being too fat By Drew Zahn September 20, 2009 'This whole case has been dreadful; neither of these parents takes drugs'
The unnamed 39-year-old mother from Dundee, Scotland, told the United Kingdom's The Sun newspaper, "This is every family's worst nightmare."
Scotland's television station STV reports the family was warned last year that they risk losing all of their kids, ages 3 to 13, unless the children lost weight. At the time, the youngest, a girl, weighed 56 pounds. The oldest, a boy, has since grown to over 220 pounds.
Secondhand Children by Ann Coulter 02/04/2009 Single motherhood costs taxpayers about $112 billion every year, according to a 2008 study by Georgia State University economist Benjamin Scafidi.
Smoking has no causal relationship to crime, has little effect on others and -- let's be honest -- looks cool. Controlling for income, education and occupation, it causes about 200,000 deaths per year, mostly of people in their 70s.
Single motherhood, by contrast, directly harms children, occurs at a rate of about 1.5 million a year and has a causal relationship to criminal behavior, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, sexual victimization and almost every other social disorder.
United Nations' threat: No more parental rights Expert: Pact would ban spankings, homeschooling if children object by Chelsea Schilling February 5, 2009 A United Nations human rights treaty that could prohibit children from being spanked or homeschooled, ban youngsters from facing the death penalty and forbid parents from deciding their families' religion is on America's doorstep, a legal expert warns.
Michael Farris of Purcellville, Va., is president of ParentalRights.org, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association and chancellor of Patrick Henry College. He told WND that under the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, or CRC, every decision a parent makes can be reviewed by the government to determine whether it is in the child's best interest.
Number Of U.S. Births Breaks Record at CBS News March 18, 2009 Report: 2007 Topped Peak From Baby Boom 50 Years Ago; 40 Percent Born Out Of Wedlock
(AP)
More babies were born in the United States in 2007 than any year in the nation's
history, topping the peak during the baby boom 50 years earlier, federal
researchers reported Wednesday.
There is both good and bad news from the more than 4.3 million births:
The U.S. population is more than replacing itself, a healthy trend.
However, the teen birth rate was up for the second year in a row.
The birth rate rose slightly for women of all ages, and births to unwed mothers
reached an all-time high of about 40 percent, continuing a trend begun years
ago. More than three-quarters of these women were 20 or older.
Parental rights already being lost By Bob Unruh April 28, 2009 State could take over decisions on health, schooling, abortion In one recent case in the South, the parents of a 13-year-old juvenile were refused access to his medical records because the doctor decided against including the parents in the discussion.
According to Farris, the parents could only be granted access to their son's medical records with their son's permission. ...
In another case that outraged parents, a federal court ruled that parents do not even have the right to withdraw their children from public school teachings that violate their religious beliefs. ...
WND reported just this week on a case involving German parents who wanted to protect their daughter from sexually explicit teachings in the local school and were fined for it. ...
One of the more significant threats to parental rights in the U.S. is the possible vote on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Lawmakers have refused to ratify the measure for the 20 years it has existed because of worries over what it could do to the entire structure of U.S. law and practice.
For example, it would turn parents who spank their own children into criminals under international law.
But now there is word that Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., wants to impose a hurry-up timetable for adoption of the radical international plan.
The document specifically would create "the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion," which critics say would usurp the role of parents in directing their children's religious training. ...
just nine years ago the state of Washington allowed any person the ability to override a good parent's decision about visitation simple by claiming it would be "best" for child.
At the Supreme Court level there was only one justice to state clearly that parental rights should get the same high legal standard of protection as other fundamental rights. One justice, in fact, said parents have no constitutionally protected rights.
Sex ed mandatory for 5-year-olds at WorldNetDaily April 28, 2009 A new government program will require that teachers in British public schools teach sex education to students starting at age 5, according to a series of published reports.According to the Guardian newspaper, the program will include the requirement to teach teens about contraception, safe sex, homosexuality and civil partners.
WND previously reported that schools in the United States have launched a program to teach "the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth" without informing parents.
The 15 Money Rules Kids Should Learn at The WSJ March 28, 2010
