[Mr. Silverback]

Though not everything is bad in Scandinavia, I've found that most of the "low poverty, low teen pregnancy shiny happy people" stuff is manipulation of facts or only half the story. For example, Sweden banned spanking, and child abuse skyrocketed. Not reports of "My neighbor still spanks his kid," but cases of real child abuse--"My neighbor punched his kid dead on the face last night!" But you won't hear any of that from the folks who want to liberalize the family, because they have to convince us that their ideas have worked where they're tried, and if telling us half-truths is what it takes, then that's OK because they're doing it for our own good.

[Lorianne]

I don't see how that is applicable. Either two parent households are good for children or they aren't. All evidence supports that two parents actively engaged in supporting/caring for/raising their children is the optimal arrangement for children, and for society in general.

Don't get me wrong, marriage is great, admirable etc. I highly recommend it. But sticking together for your kids whether married or not is the the crux of the issue, not the piece of paper from the State saying the parents are married.