Fragile Families and Poverty

Unwed moms far more likely to face poverty, By Rita Price, October 4, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “Among the nation’s social problems, few are as vexing as the rocky relationship between parenthood and matrimony. Marriage reduces the likelihood that families will live in poverty. Yet the poor are the least likely to wed when they’re expecting a baby. ‘There’s a lot of evidence of a real class divide in how families are formed,’ said Anastasia Snyder, an Ohio State University professor who studies family structure. ‘We have two different trajectories, and it’s worrisome,’ she said. ‘The rich are getting richer in terms of family behavior, too.’ Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week show both high rates of poverty and out-of-wedlock births. Although researchers note that causes and effects aren’t simple to connect – especially during a recession – there’s little doubt that growing numbers of so-called fragile families make life harder on children…”