“The disappearance of marriage in low-income communities is the predominant cause of child poverty in the U.S. today. If poor single mothers were married to the fathers of their children, two-thirds of them would not be poor. The absence of a husband and father from the home also is a strong contributing factor to failure in school, crime, drug abuse, emotional disturbance, and a host of other social problems.”
Understanding Illegitimacy, Heritage Foundation, April 12, 2010
Number of children born to unwed mothers in 2008:
- 1.72 million
Number of children born to unwed teenage mothers in 2008:
- 130,000
Change in percentage of children born to unwed mothers since 1963:
- +580%
Average government benefits to single mothers for each dollar of taxes paid:
- $3
Annual taxpayer cost for means-tested welfare to single mothers:
- $300 billion
Sources: Centers for Disease Control, Heritage Foundation.
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