marriage poverty - montana

Marriage:Montana’s No. 1 Weapon

AgainstChildhood Poverty

How the Collapse of Marriage Hurts Childrenand Three Steps to Reverse the Damage

A Heritage Foundation Book of Charts • 2012

Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society

Growth of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing in Montana, 1929–2010

PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK

heritage.orgChart 1 • Marriage and Poverty in Montana

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

36.4%

40.8%

National

Montana

Note: Data on non-marital births in Montana are unavailable between 1960 and 1979. However, all states that do have data for this period show a rapid growth in non-marital childbearing from the mid-1960s on. The Montana trend during this period undoubtedly parallels the national trend shown in the chart.

Sources: U.S. Government, U.S. Census Bureau, and National Center for Health Statistics.

Throughout most of Montana’s history, out-of-wedlock childbear-ing was rare.

In 1959, just five years before the federal government began the War on Poverty, only 2.8 percent of children in Montana were born outside marriage. However, over the next five decades, the number rose rapidly. By 2010, 36.4 percent of births in Montana occurred outside of marriage.

In Montana, Marriage Drops the Probability of Child Poverty by 80 Percent

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007–2009 data.


PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN THAT ARE POOR

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Single-Parent, Female-Headed

Families

Married, Two-Parent Families

43.0%

8.5%

The rapid rise in out-of-wedlock childbearing is a major cause of high levels of child pov-erty in Montana.

Some 43 percent of single moth-ers with children were poor com-pared to 8.5 percent of married couples with children.

Single-parent families with children are five times more likely to be poor than families in which the parents are married.

The higher poverty rate among single-mother families is due both to the lower education levels of the mothers and the lower income due to the absence of the father.

In Montana, Three in Ten Families with Children Are Not Married



69.2%

30.8%

Unmarried Families

Married Families

Overall, married couples head about three in ten families with children in Montana. Seven in ten are single-parent families.

In Montana, Two-Thirds of Poor Families with Children Are Not Married



33.6%

66.4%

Unmarried Families

Married Families

Among poor families with children in Montana, two-thirds are not married. By contrast, only 33.6 percent of poor families with children are headed by married couples.

In Montana, Few Unwed Births Occur to Teenagers

Note: Figures have been rounded.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008 NHS data.


PERCENTAGE OF OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHS BY AGE OF MOTHER

Age18–19:16.7%

Age20–24:40.4%

Age25–29:21.8%

Age30–54:13.3%

UnderAge 18:7.8%

Out-of-wedlock births are often confused erroneously with teen births, but only 7.8 percent of out-of-wedlock births in Montana occur to girls under age 18.

By contrast, some 79 percent of out-of-wedlock births occur to young adult women between the ages of 18 and 29.

Less-Educated Women Are More Likely to Give Birth Outside of Marriage


PERCENTAGE OF BIRTHS THAT ARE MARITAL OR OUT OF WEDLOCK

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

High School Dropout

(0–11Years)

High School Graduate

(12Years)

SomeCollege(13–15Years)

College Graduate

(16+Years)

71.3%

48.0%

33.8%

6.6%

28.7%

52.0%

66.2%

93.4%

Mother’s education level

Unmarried Mothers

Married Mothers


Unwed childbearing occurs most frequently among the women who will have the greatest difficulty supporting children by themselves: those with low levels of education.

In Montana, among women who are high school dropouts, about 71.3 percent of all births occur outside marriage. Among women who have only a high school diploma, nearly half of births occur outside marriage. By contrast, among women with at least a college degree, only 6.6 percent of births are out of wed-lock.

Both Marriage and Education Are Highly Effective in Reducing Child Poverty in Montana



0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

High School Dropout

High School Graduate

SomeCollege

College Graduate

61.1%

24.1%

43.4%

12.2%

41.4%

6.4%

19.9%

2.8%

Note: Virtually none of the heads of families in the chart who are high school dropouts are minor teenagers.

The poverty rate of married couples with children is dramati-cally lower than the rate for house-holds headed by single parents. This is true even when the married couple is compared to single par-ents with the same education level.

For example, in Montana, the poverty rate for a single mother who has only a high school diploma is 43.4 percent, but the poverty rate for a married couple family headed by an individual who, similarly, has only a high school degree is far lower at 12.2 percent.

On average, marriage drops the poverty rate by around 76 percent among families with the same education level.

PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN THAT ARE POOR

Poverty Rate of Families by Education and Marital Status of the Head of Household

Single Married

Unwed Birth Rates Vary Strongly by Race in Montana



PERCENT OF BIRTHS THAT ARE OUT OF WEDLOCK

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10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

All Races White Non-

Hispanic

Hispanic American Indian

BlackNon-

Hispanic

36.7%

30.3%

52.1% 52.8%

73.7%8.3%

Out-of-wedlock childbearing varies considerably by race.

In 2008 (the most recent year for which racial breakdown is available), more than one-third of all births (36.7 percent) in Mon-tana occurred outside marriage. The rate was lowest among non-Hispanic whites. Among that group, three in ten births were non-marital.

Among Hispanics and blacks, over half of births were out of wedlock. Among American Indi-ans, nearly three in every four (73.7 percent) births were out of wedlock.

Racial Composition of All Births and Out-of-Wedlock Births in Montana

ALL BIRTHS OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHS



Note: Figures have been rounded.

82.0% White Non-Hispanic

Asian/OtherBlack Non-Hispanic

Hispanic

10.6%

3.4%4.9%

3.4%

67.8%

21.2%

5.3% 0.8%0.6%

American Indian

In Montana in 2008, some 82 percent of all births occurred to white non-Hispanics, 10.6 percent occurred to American Indians, and 3.4 percent occurred to Hispanics.

Because American Indians, blacks, and Hispanics are more likely to have children without being married, they account for disproportionately larger shares of all out-of-wedlock births.

In Montana in 2008, 67.8 per-cent of all non-marital births were to non-Hispanic whites, 21.2 percent were to American Indian women, and 4.9 percent were to Hispanic women.

Non-Married White Families Are Seven Times More Likely to Be Poor in Montana



PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES THAT ARE POOR

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Married Families Non-Married Families

4.4%

30.9%

Marriage leads to lower poverty rates for whites, blacks, and His-panics.

For example, in 2009, the pov-erty rate for married white families in Montana was 4.4 percent. But the poverty rate for non-married white families was seven times higher at 30.9 percent.

Non-Married American Indian Families Are Nearly Three Times More Likely to Be Poor in Montana




0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%


19.7%

49.6%

In 2009, the poverty rate for married American Indian families in Montana was 19.7 percent, while the poverty rate among non-married families was nearly three times higher at 49.6 percent.

Non-Married Hispanic Families Are Seven Times More Likely to Be Poor in Montana




0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%


7.5%

51.4%

In 2009, the poverty rate for Hispanic married families in Mon-tana was 7.5 percent, while the poverty rate among non-married families was seven times higher at 51.4 percent.

Three Steps to Reduce Child Poverty through Marriage

1) Provide information on the benefits of marriage in reducing child poverty and improving child well-being.

2) Reduce anti-marriage penalties in means-tested welfare programs.

3) Promote life-goal-planning, marriage-strengthening, and divorce-reduction programs to increase healthy marriages and reduce divorce and separation.

Marriage is a highly effective institution which greatly decreases parental and child poverty while improving long-term outcomes for children. Conversely, the absence of marriage greatly increases welfare costs and imposes added burdens on taxpayers.

Unfortunately, almost no information on these topics is available in low-income communities. This information deficit should be corrected in the following manner:

• Explain the benefits of marriage in middle and high schools with a high proportion of at-risk youth;

• Create public education campaigns in low-income communities on the benefits of marriage; and,

• Require federally funded birth control clinics to provide information on the benefits of marriage and the skills needed to develop stable families to interested low-income clients.

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