Posted on 04/03/2026 1:44:30 PM PDT by grundle
The city of Springfield, Ohio, gained unwanted notoriety recently, but Springfield and other Ohio cities have genuine problems that have nothing to do with dubious claims of barbecued pets. In these cities, the majority of children under age 18 are being raised by single mothers (either never married or divorced/separated) who do not live with their children’s fathers or stepfathers.
In Springfield, for example, only 44% of mothers were married and living with their husbands and children during the five-year period from 2018-2022. In Cleveland, only 33% were. In Youngstown, 32%; while in Cincinnati, 46%. By contrast, in the suburban community of Cleveland Heights, 63% of mothers were married, while in New Albany, Ohio, 91% were. In Ohio as a whole, 68% of mothers were married and lived with their husbands and children.
Absent Fathers and Child Poverty
In Ohio cities where single motherhood is the norm rather than the exception, rates of child poverty are high. In Springfield, one-third of all children lived in families below the official poverty level during the 2018-2022 time period. In Youngstown, it was half; in Cleveland, 46%; while in Cincinnati, a third. On the other hand, the child poverty rate in Cleveland Heights, where married parenthood is more common, was 19% and in New Albany, 4%. For Ohio as a whole, the child poverty rate was 18%.
Figure 1 shows the inverse relationship between the percentage of married mothers and the child poverty rate across 17 cities in Ohio. For each 10-point decline in the percentage of married mothers, there is a 7.5-point increase in the percentage of children in poverty in the city. As shown on the graph, a straight-line relationship between the two variables accounts for 98% of the variation in child poverty across these jurisdictions.
There are several reasons for higher child poverty rates in Ohio cities with large numbers of unmarried mothers. Many non-resident parents (usually the children’s biological fathers) provide little to no financial support for their offspring. Single mothers struggle to work outside the home while also caring for children, especially young ones. Government assistance programs, like Food Stamps, tend to phase out rapidly as family income rises, providing a disincentive to work. Without co-residence or a joint custody agreement, single mothers are unable to benefit from the division of child care and work responsibilities that most married couples practice.
In addition, single mothers tend to have lower levels of education than married mothers in general,2 reducing their earnings potential.3 But even when parent educational attainment, child age, and race and ethnicity are controlled, children in disrupted families are more likely to be poor than those in married-couple families.4
Absent Fathers and Violent Crime
Ohio cities where single parenthood is the norm are also characterized by high rates of violent crime. In Springfield, for example, there were 1,298 incidents of violent crime reported to the police per 100,000 residents in 2023. In Cleveland, 1,895 incidents; in Cincinnati, 800; while in Youngstown, 699. By contrast, in Cleveland Heights, again where married parenthood is more common, the violent crime rate was 267 in 2023, and in New Albany, 99. The violent crime rate for Ohio as a whole was 294 in 2022.
Figure 2 shows the inverse relationship between the percentage of married mothers and the violent crime rate in 17 Ohio cities in 2023. As the percentage of married mothers declines, violent crime rates rise exponentially. As shown on the graph, a curvilinear relationship between the two variables accounts for 84% of the variation in violent crime rates across these jurisdictions.
Why are violent crime rates so high in Ohio cities where unmarried mothers are in the majority? There are several reasons. Single-parent families with children are apt to make frequent residential moves and to live in unsafe neighborhoods as a result of family disruption.5 That makes them more vulnerable to becoming victims of both property and violent crime.
Having broken up with their child’s other parent, a single parent will usually begin dating and trying to find a new partner. This process often involves being out of the house at night, sometimes leaving children with inadequate supervision, exposing children to strange (and sometimes dangerous) men. As children become adolescents, their peers in their less-than-ideal neighborhoods and schools are often troubled and can lead them into hazardous situations and activities. And children in single-parent families are more likely than those in two-parent families to have a father or sibling with a criminal record.
Many single mothers take great pains and make personal sacrifices to ensure that their offspring do not become victims or perpetrators of violent crime, and most succeed in keeping their children safe and out of trouble. But research continuees to show that the best form of home security and delinquency prevention is a stable marriage with a father in the home.
Policy Prescriptions That May Make Matters Worse
Ohio is certainly not the only state with cities where single parenthood is common and where rates of child poverty and violent crime are high. Unfortunately, popular policy prescriptions for aiding families with children and reducing child poverty may, if implemented, make matters worse rather than better. Most of these prescriptions involve giving money to new parents or even all parents of young children, without regard to whether the parents are married, have completed high school, or have a history of substance abuse, child abuse or neglect, mental illness or criminal behavior. While the intention is to reduce child poverty, the unintended consequence could be to reduce motivation for careful, responsible parenthood.6
Instead of handing out cash to new parents, it would seem wiser to initiate efforts to have public schools in Ohio and other states do a better job of instructing students about the importance of marriage prior to childbearing for the success of a parental relationship and the future well-being of children. More students may be acquiring diplomas and learning something about the perils of teen pregnancy. But they do not seem to be sufficiently aware of the benefits of marriage, especially for children.
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All this, for what we’ve already known?
Thank you Murphy Brown.
Didn’t Candance Bergen ultimately say that Dan Quayle was right?
I liked Quayle. Went to a $100 breakfast to hear him speak. Of course that was quite a few years ago.
Well, I'm not opposed to that.
But the public schools currently "instruct" students about algebra, literature and history -- and how well is that working out?
I think it would be better to focus mostly on the money. One parent with a child should get pitifully small amounts of cash. Sorry. You're going to have to suffer. Two parents with a child get more money. Make better choices. Keep your legs together. I would like men to behave better. I would like women to behave better. The government should give out funds to reward good choices. People who make bad choices should really feel the pain. And in just a generation or two, we will all be better off.
those folks need self respect and not screw any guy that says howdy.
and if not that, birth control.
verily, there is nothing new under the sun.....
(Ecclesiastes 1:9)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Negro_Family:_The_Case_For_National_Action
They insist on calling it single parenting but far too often we see no parenting at all.
And the giant elephant in the room isn’t even mentioned
All this combined with a tendency to be violent makes a noxious brew.
Now days ... back when my great grandad it wasn’t the norm since folks there looked after each other. He lived in Queens, NYC, in what was called “The Project” ... government built apartments. Lots of kids then were latch key kids and they pretty much looked after each other ... mom’s would hang out of the window to see how the kids played and made sure they behaved ... to a point. In any case, that was then, this is now. Liberalism today at its finest.
And boys shouldn’t boink any girl who says “howdy” either.
**Didn’t Candance Bergen ultimately say that Dan Quayle was right?**
**I liked Quayle. Went to a $100 breakfast to hear him speak. Of course that was quite a few years ago.**
I have a lot of respect for Quayle. He went down fighting in that speech and his debate with Gore. Unfortunately he was not ready for prime time and neither was Sarah otherwise both would have their own libraries.
If I remember correctly 70% of black kiddos are born into single parent homes. Also 87% of black murders committed every year are by black men. I believe that arrangement was prevalent in even back in the 1960s when I went to college in N. Ohio so there is nothing new here. Has there ever been one of the so-called civil rights icons that has acknowledged those problems and attempted to resolve them?
well of course but let’s face it, the girl is the one that becomes the single parent.
Some young men step up, but not always.
Everybody practice birth control.
100% common sense. A God-fearing, nuclear family setup is the best setup available.
FIFY
The government doesn’t WANT to resolve it. LBJ was right. The single parent lifestyle/penal system is a cash cow.
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