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Family Fragmentation in the 21st Century Where We’re At – What We Know Now:

Family Fragmentation in the 21st Century Where We’re At – What We Know Now: A Look at the Nation and Oklahoma. Michael L. Jestes Former Executive Director Oklahoma Family Policy Council. Children Need Their Parents.

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Family Fragmentation in the 21st Century Where We’re At – What We Know Now:

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  1. Family Fragmentation in the 21st Century Where We’re At – What We Know Now: A Look at the Nation and Oklahoma Michael L. Jestes Former Executive Director Oklahoma Family Policy Council

  2. Children Need Their Parents • The average child fares best in life when raised by his or her two biological (or adoptive) parents, especially if those parents are happily married.1 • Children who are raised by both their parents are less likely to live in poverty, and to experience negative outcomes such as social, emotional, and academic problems. As adolescents, such children are less likely to drop out of school, become substance abusers, and become pregnant outside of marriage.2 • Amato, P. R. (2005). The impact of family formation change on the cognitive, social, and emotional well-being of the next generation. Marriage and Child Wellbeing, 15(2), 75 – 96. • 2. McLanahan, S. and Sandefur, G. (1994). Growing Up in with a Single Parent: What Hurts, What Helps. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

  3. Marriage and Divorce Facts in the Sooner State • Oklahomans tend to marry earlier than other Americans and are at higher risk for divorce.8 • Oklahomans remain married longer before divorcing than the national average.9 8. Johnson, C. A., Stanley, S. M., Glenn, N. D., Amato, P. A., Nock, S. L., Markman, H. J., & Dion, M. R. (2002). Marriage in Oklahoma: 2001 baseline statewide survey on marriage and divorce (S02096 OKDHS). Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma Department of Human Services. 9. Johnson, C. A., Stanley, S. M., Glenn, N. D., Amato, P. A., Nock, S. L., Markman, H. J., & Dion, M. R. (2002). Marriage in Oklahoma: 2001 baseline statewide survey on marriage and divorce (S02096 OKDHS). Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

  4. Marriage and Divorce Facts in the Sooner State • Oklahomans tend to marry earlier than other Americans and are at higher risk for divorce.8 • Oklahomans remain married longer before divorcing (about 10 years), which is more than the national average.9 8. Johnson, C. A., Stanley, S. M., Glenn, N. D., Amato, P. A., Nock, S. L., Markman, H. J., & Dion, M. R. (2002). Marriage in Oklahoma: 2001 baseline statewide survey on marriage and divorce (S02096 OKDHS). Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma Department of Human Services. 9. Johnson, C. A., Stanley, S. M., Glenn, N. D., Amato, P. A., Nock, S. L., Markman, H. J., & Dion, M. R. (2002). Marriage in Oklahoma: 2001 baseline statewide survey on marriage and divorce (S02096 OKDHS). Oklahoma City, OK: Oklahoma Department of Human Services. See also The OMI: Progress and Goals (2008). Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Marriage Initiative, 8.

  5. Divorce in Oklahoma • In 2010, Oklahoma was tied for fifth-highest divorce rate in the U.S., trailing Nevada, Idaho, W. Virgina, Kentucky but not all states reported their divorce rates.10 • To complicate matters, the federal government in the mid 90s stopped compiling vital divorce statistics—a decision that has made it difficult for social science researchers to calculate precise divorce rates.11 10. Governor and First Lady’s Summit on Marriage, Governor’s Mansion, Oklahoma City, Okla., March, 1999. 11. Paul Amato. The Percentage of Divorced People in the Population is Growing in the United States but NOT in Oklahoma (undated). Unpublished document.

  6. Divorce in Oklahoma • The divorce rate is a moving target. It goes up when the economy is in a recession and down when the economy improves. It increases when our country is at war and decreases when our country is at peace.12 • Between 2005 and 2007, divorces in Oklahoma decreased by about 6%. In contrast, the overall number of divorces in the U.S. increased by about 1%. 12. Bramlett, M. D., & Mosher, W. D. (2002. Cohabitation, marriage, divorce, and remarriage in the United States (Vital and Health Statistics, Series 23, No. 22). Washington, DC: National Center for Health Statistics; Cherlin, Andrew (1981). Marriage, divorce, remarriage. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 13. The OMI: Progress and Goals (2008). Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Marriage Initiative, 7.

  7. Economic Impact of Divorce in Oklahoma • Given that about half of children in Oklahoma live in single parent families due to divorce, the cost of divorce (net of other causes of single parenthood) is about $215 million.14 • A 3% decline in divorces in Oklahoma, will save taxpayers $6,450,000 per year. More savings could come from services provided to other groups such as single parents or youth.15 • The OMI: Progress and Goals (2008). Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Marriage Initiative, 8., citing findings from Scafidi, B. (2008). The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Fifty States. NY: Institute for American Values. • 15. The OMI: Progress and Goals (2008). Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Marriage Initiative, 8-9.

  8. Current Marriage Trends Nationwide16 • People delaying age of first marriage • Overall, fewer people getting married • Cohabitation increasing dramatically • Unmarried births rising dramatically • Divorce rate stabilizing at a high level • Slight increase in young adults saying that a good marriage is personally very important 16. Glenn T. Stanton, “Family Formation Trends and Analysis, U.S. Overview 2008: Adults: The Health of Marriage in America,” Colorado Springs: Focus on the Family, 2008, 1.

  9. • People delaying age of first marriage A delay in first marriage, but marrying in mid-twenties is associated with significantly lower risk of divorce.18 • Glenn T. Stanton, “Family Formation Trends and Analysis, U.S. Overview 2008: Adults: The Health of Marriage in America,” Colorado Springs: Focus on the Family, 2008, 3. • 18. David Popenoe and Barbara Whitehead, “The State of Our Unions 2005: The Social Health of Marriage in America,” The National Marriage Project, (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, July 2005), p. 19.

  10. • Overall, fewer people getting married 19. Glenn T. Stanton, “Family Formation Trends and Analysis, U.S. Overview 2008: Adults: The Health of Marriage in America,” Colorado Springs: Focus on the Family, 2008, 3.

  11. • Divorce rate stabilizing at a high level The U.S. divorce rate has leveled at a dramatically high rate, and is nearly double the rate from the early 1960s.27 Although it is popularly reported that 50% of marriages end in divorce, the best estimates are that between 41 to 43 percent of all first-time marriages in the U.S. will end in divorce. However, the divorce rate for second and any subsequent marriages is much greater.28 • David Popenoe and Barbara Whitehead, “The State of Our Unions 2005: The Social Health of Marriage in America,” The National Marriage Project, (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, July 2005), p. 19. • 28. Popenoe and Whitehead, The National Marriage Project (2006)

  12. Family Fragmentation and OKDHS31 • Almost one-third of all Oklahoma children (291,022 children) were certified for food stamps in 2008. • More than half of all Oklahoma children (675,403 children) qualified for Medicaid in 2008. • Almost one in three Oklahomans received services from OKDHS in 2008. • 60.44% of all Oklahoma births in 2008 were funded by Oklahoma’s SoonerCare (Medicaid) Program. • In 2008, 40,243 Oklahoma children received taxpayer- subsidized child care so their parent could work. 31. OKDHS Executive Director Howard Hendrick, “Oklahoma Social Services: August 2009,” PowerPoint Presentation, Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Dept. of Human Services.

  13. “The timeless formula for a healthy civilization is work that pays well and healthy, two-parent families.”32 —OKDHS Executive Director Howard Hendrick 32. OKDHS Executive Director Howard Hendrick, “Oklahoma Social Services: August 2009,” PowerPoint Presentation, Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Dept. of Human Services.

  14. Current Child Trends Nationwide33 • Homes with children, decreasing • Fewer children living with two parents, but level still high • Fewer children living with married parents, but level is still relatively high • More children living with cohabiting parents or single parents, mostly mom • More grandparents are raising their grandchildren 33. Glenn T. Stanton, “Family Formation Trends and Analysis, U.S. Overview 2008: Children: The Health of Growing Up in America,” Colorado Springs: Focus on the Family, 2008, 1.

  15. • Fewer children living with two parents “An extensive body of research tells us that children do best when they grow up with both biological parents in a low-conflict marriage… Thus, it is not simply the presence of two parents, as some have assumed, but the presence of two biological parents that seem to support child development.”37 —Kristin Anderson Moore, Child Trends • Rose M. Kreider and Jason Fields, Living Arrangements of Children: 2001. Current Population Reports, P70-104. U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC. (July 2005), p. 2. • 37. Kristin Anderson Moore, et al., “Marriage From a Child’s Perspective: How Does Family Structure Affect Children, and What Can We Do about It?” Child Trends Research Brief, June 2002, p. 1-2.

  16. • Fewer children living with married parents Married parenting is declining compared to cohabiting and single parenting, but still relatively strong.39 • Family Structure,” Child Trends DataBank, http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/pdf/59_PDF.pdf • 39. Kreider and Fields, 2005, table 1, page 3.

  17. • More children living with cohabiting or single parents Over 40 percent of cohabiting couple homes contain children.40 In 1960, only 9 percent of all children lived with a single-parent, with little change over the 20th Century. By 2006, that percentage jumped to 28 percent.41 40. Popenoe and Whitehead, 2006, p. 19. 41. Glenn T. Stanton, “Family Formation Trends and Analysis, U.S. Overview 2008: Children: The Health of Growing Up in America,” Colorado Springs: Focus on the Family, 2008, 5.

  18. Creates More Dangerous Environment for Children “Moreover, children living in cohabiting unions with stepfathers or mother’s boyfriend are at higher risk of sexual abuse and physical violence, including lethal violence, than are children living with married biological parents. …Several studies have found that children currently living with a mother and her unmarried partner have significantly more behavior problems and lower academic performance than children in intact families.” —David Popenoe & Barbara Whitehead, National Marriage Project 42. David Popenoe and Barbara Whitehead, “Should We Live Together?” a report from the National Marriage Project, Rutgers University, 2002, p. 8.

  19. • More grandparents are raising their grandchildren today Four percent (4%) of all U.S. children live in a home with neither parent—usually a grandparent or grandparents.43 43. Kreider, 2008, table 1, page 4, cited in Glenn T. Stanton, “Family Formation Trends and Analysis, U.S. Overview 2008: Children: The Health of Growing Up in America,” 6.

  20. Stepfamilies/Blended Families Increasing • 30 percent of all marriages today also give birth to a stepfamily. • Blended families have unique characteristics and challenges. •Most churches do not feel adequate in ministering to stepfamilies.44 • 60 – 65 percent of stepfamily marriages will end in divorce, most within 5 years.45 44. Donna Edwards, Marriage Network Oklahoma, www.marriagenetworkOK.net 45. Deal, R. L. The Smart Stepfamily: Seven Steps to a Healthy Family. (Ada, Mich.: Bethany House Publishers, 2002)

  21. • Family Form and Child Poverty 46. Kreider, 2008, table 2, page 6, cited in Glenn T. Stanton, “Family Formation Trends and Analysis, U.S. Overview 2008: Children: The Health of Growing Up in America,” 6.

  22. How Can We Help Reduce Divorce & Prevent Child Poverty? “The vast majority of children who are raised entirely in a home where parents are married will never be poor during childhood. By contrast, the vast majority of children who spend time in a fatherless home will experience poverty.”47 —Dr. David Ellwood, Harvard professor “It is no exaggeration to say that a stable, two-parent family is an American child’s best protection against poverty.”48 —Progressive Policy Institute 47. David Ellwood, Poor Support: Poverty in the American Family (New York: Basic Books, 1988), p. 46. 48. Elaine Kamarck and William Galston, “Putting Children First: A Progressive Family Policy for the 1990s,” Progressive Policy Institute (September 27, 1990), 12.

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