The High Cost of Family Breakdown

Serious and important studies such as �?SPAN>Why Marriage Matters: 21 Conclusions from the Social Sciences�?and �?SPAN>Hardwired to Connect�?have documented the ravages of divorce and single parenthood on children, as well as their mothers and fathers. The significantly increased incidence of divorce, unwed parenthood and alcohol and substance abuse among children of divorce is well-known to social scientists.

It is also well documented that boys raised without their fathers are approximately twice as likely to engage in criminal and delinquent behavior as boys raised in homes with their biological mother and father (Why Marriage Matters).

Now, a study has been published, �?/FONT>The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing�? which seeks to detail the financial costs to society resulting from the breakdown of marriage in our society. This new study calculates the financial costs alone to be at least $112 billion dollars a year, resulting from expenses associated with healthcare, criminal justice, welfare and lost income-tax revenue. That means the breakdown of marriage has cost our country almost $1.1 trillion dollars during the past decade.