Melissa S. Kearney, a professor of economics at the University of Maryland, explained the importance of being raised in a nuclear family during a BYU campus forum on Nov. 19.
Her address summarized the change in attitude towards marriage and family that American society has undergone and demonstrated the effect this attitude has had on the economy through varied research and data.
Kearney began her remarks by recognizing that the family has remained an important social structure in the BYU community, but that in general crowds, family is often considered “out of bounds in policy conversations.”
She then shared her belief in the necessity of having these conversations.
“I am convinced, based on data and evidence, that the declining share of children living in a married-parent home is both a cause and a consequence of economic and social challenges facing our nation,” Kearney said. “To improve the lives of American children, to reduce poverty and income inequality, and to close gaps between racial and ethnic groups in this country, we need to make strong families a national priority.”
During her remarks, Kearney expressed her point of view on this topic not only as a scholar, but also as a wife and mother of three, raised in a two-parent family. Kearney touched on her 2023 publication, “The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind.”
Kearney shared that the United States has the highest number of children living with one parent among the countries that collect that data.
“This is an exceptionalism that we should not be proud of, and one that does not serve our nation’s children well,” Kearney said.
She shared data points and explained research that illustrates how America got to this point and how it has been to our national detriment.
Kearney explained that children living with single-parents are disadvantaged because single-parents necessarily have decreased ability compared to married parents.
“I really can’t emphasize this enough—none of this is to denigrate or dismiss the very hard work that single parents are doing or to suggest that they don’t want as much for their children as married parents,” Kearney said. “Rather, acknowledging the reality that single parents tend to have less money, time, and emotional bandwidth to devote to their children as compared to their married peers helps us understand why children who grow up in single parent households are at a relative disadvantage.”
Kearney concluded her remarks by offering an agenda to improve this state of affairs. She posited that a restoration of the norm of two-parent homes, economic aid for potential fathers and mothers and introducing families to resources that provide them with the assistance they need should be implemented to fix this national issue.
“Perhaps above all, we need to do so much more in this country to take care of children, and make sure no child is left to endure poverty and hardship because of the situation they were born into,” Kearney said.
She closed her address with a call to action.
“Not talking about these facts is counterproductive. Not doing anything about these facts is defeatist. Strong families need to be a national priority,” Kearney said.
