Free Republic

Anyone who has raised children knows that it's a messy, trial-and-error process, with an emphasis on "error." It's hard enough to do well with two parents, a reasonably stable and sane marriage and a reliable income. When there's only one parent with a meager income, the burdens mount and feed on themselves. That's one reason why the growth of single-parent households is rightly regarded as one cause of poverty. Or so I thought. Naturally, I was shocked recently to read in The New York Times — with all the Times' authority — an opinion essay headlined, "Single Mothers Are Not...

The German family structure is changing, with nearly a third of every family no longer living in the “classic model” and big differences in what family looks like in the former East and West, statistics agency Destatis announced on Monday. The 2013 Microcensus showed that 70 percent of families consisted of a married couple and at least one child under the age of 18. And while the classical model still dominates, the figures show it’s in decline. In 1996, 81 percent of families centered on a married couple.Today, 20 percent of children live with single parents, up six percent from...

With Father's Day on Sunday, there is good news and bad news. First the negative: Single mothers head up almost 9 percent of American households. The good news? Fathers who care are making a huge difference in this country. How do I know? It is estimated that close to 40 percent of all those incarcerated in the USA did not have a father in their childhood home. So doing the math, a responsible father seems to be a strong force for promoting righteous conduct. It was never easy being a father. Did you know that American icon Davy Crockett abandoned...

Dads matter. President Barack Obama said it recently in Chicago, a city on track for 600 murders this year, the equivalent of two Sandy Hooks per month. Too bad he still does not understand that his left-wing ideology is the problem. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, Obama, much of his party and much of the media have been calling for further gun control and advocating "common sense" measures such as limiting the number of rounds in a magazine, "universal" background checks and restrictions on "assault weapons." But there is an 800-pound politically incorrect elephant in the room. Most gun murders...

It's been twenty years since Vice President Dan Quayle left town. He was hooted and booted out of office. The press had a field day with his misspelling of "potatoe," or rather, potato. What a dunce, they wrote. Of course, that is standard treatment for conservatives, Christians, or anyone else who doesn't go along with the right thinking, which is to say, the left thinking legions of progressivism. No sooner had the former vice president left Washington for the greener golf courses of Arizona than social scientist Barbara Dafoe Whitehead took to the pages of The Atlantic. In April, 1993,...

Maybe Democrats have some slick salesmen, like Bill Clinton and our current president, who can sell you swampland and have you convinced that you’ve bought choice beachfront property. But the omission of any mention of God and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital from the Democratic Party platform, which were in it in 2008, and then the almost failed attempt to add them after the fact, showed the clear truth about the 2012 Democratic Party. It took three boisterous floor votes to add these principles to the platform and listening to the ayes and nays in the third vote, it...

Gabrielle Douglas became the fourth American -- and first black female -- to win a gold medal in women's individual all-around gymnastics. Effervescent and attractive, Gabby stands to make millions of dollars in endorsements. But she has received criticism -- in the social media, via Twitter, Facebook and, according to The Daily Beast, several "black blogs." It's about her hair: "Gabby Douglas gotta do something with this hair! These clips and this brown gel residue aint it." "She needs some gel and a brush." "She has to 'represent.'" "My mama sitting (here) screaming at Gabby Douglas on TV because...

If women are looking for the key to long-lasting health, they should consider getting rid of their man. That is one finding of research by two Queensland universities that reveals that divorced, widowed and single women in older age appear to be healthier than their married counterparts. A man's health, however, appears to be unaffected by his marital status. The surprise finding may help allay fears that the burgeoning group of older single females - products of the divorce surge of the 1970s and 1980s - will place an extra burden on health budgets. The Queensland University and Queensland University...