[Post Toasties]

Census bureau statistics show that children raised in households where both their biological parents are present suffer from about a FIFTH the poverty rate and have far lower occurrences of mental illness and social maladjustment, poor scholastic performance, far fewer violent tendencies and criminal histories and many fewer problems in later adult life. Moreover, these statistics cut across all racial and ethnic groups.

It's a shocking and discouraging lack of judgment, IMO amounting to a virtual societal crime to ignore these factors when deciding what family structure is best.

[jammer]

I think those statistics are compelling and illuminating. Thanks

But, here again, as with all such sociological stats, we have to be careful with the correlation. How much of the one-parent household phenomenon causes poverty, violence, etc. and how much are one-parent households CAUSED BY poverty, violence, etc.? Sounds like both contribute to the other, exacerbating each other in an endless cycle. I would be happier to see each of those factors evaluated separately, especially the violence.