Collapse Of Traditional Family Costs American Taxpayers $112 Billion A Year
First-Time Research Reveals Staggering Annual Taxpayer Costs for Divorce and Unwed Childbearing
WASHINGTON, April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In first-ever research, a new report quantifies a minimum $112 billion annual taxpayer cost from high rates of divorce and unmarried childbearing. It identifies national, state and local costs which account for more than $1 trillion in the last decade. This landmark scholarly study, entitled “The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and All 50 States,” was released on April 15th at the National Press Club by four renown policy and research groups — Institute for American Values, Georgia Family Council, Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, and Families Northwest.
“This study documents for the first time, that divorce and unwed childbearing — besides being bad for children — are also costing taxpayers a ton of money,” said David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values. “Even a small improvement in the health of marriage in America would result in enormous savings to taxpayers,” he continued.
“These costs are due to increased taxpayer expenditures for anti-poverty, criminal justice and education programs, and through lower levels of taxes paid by individuals whose adult productivity has been negatively affected by increased childhood poverty caused by family fragmentation,” said principal investigator Ben Scafidi, Ph.D., economics professor at Georgia College & State University. “Prior research shows that marriage lifts single mothers out of poverty and therefore reduces the need for costly social benefits.”
“This report now provides the basis for a national consensus that strengthening marriage is a legitimate policy concern,” said Blankenhorn. “The report’s numbers represent an extremely cautious estimate, a lower-bound figure, and have been vetted by a group of distinguished scholars and economists.”
“These numbers represent real people and real suffering,” said Randy Hicks, president of Georgia Family Council. “Both economic and human costs make family fragmentation a legitimate public concern. Historically, Americans have resisted the impulse to surrender to negative and hurtful trends. We fight problems like racism, poverty and domestic violence because we understand that the stakes are high. And while we’ll never eliminate divorce and unwed childbearing entirely, we can certainly be doing more to help marriages and families succeed.” Full report available at http://www.americanvalues.org
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“This study documents for the first time, that divorce and unwed childbearing — besides being bad for children — are also costing taxpayers a ton of money,”
“Prior research shows that marriage lifts single mothers out of poverty and therefore reduces the need for costly social benefits.”
No shit Sherlock. conservatives and Republicans have been stating this for decades. The libs just refuse to believe it. That is why there are so many unwed mothers, they and their male partners (can’t call them men, otherwise tehy would support their children themselves) shack up and live off the working class of America, because that is what they have been conditioned to do by the “great war on poverty” set up by the dumbocrats in the 60’s.
And that is a lsoing war if there ever was one. Over 11 Trillion dollars, and no improvement.
instead of pulling out of Iraq, let’s cancel the war on poverty first. Cancel the social support network created and paid for by you and I. That would cut the budget by a third or more I bet…
April 15th, 2008 at 9:09 amWell I can tell you that this Traditional American Family is saving the American Taxpayer even more money. We home school our three children and since there are no Government handouts for home schooling, we carry the full load for our children’s education on my single income. I am thinking about doing fundraisers, although, the IRS would probably tax me on it. By carrying the financial burden for the education of my own three kids, I am freeing up the money that I pay into taxes for their education in the great Sunshine State so that now, three illegal immigrant children can have a free education and it doesn’t cost you other taxpayers any extra to do it. Now, aren’t we being nice?
BTW…I’m sleeping with my kids’ teacher
…My wife is sleeping with their principal 
.
April 15th, 2008 at 11:24 amNow there is a tradition that I really like keeping.
Most if not all of the social ills in our nation can be directly attributed to the policies endorsed and carried out by liberal politicians. So to them I give a hearty fu*k you libtard.
April 15th, 2008 at 3:50 pmI need a freaking beer.