Monday, June 16, 2014
By Derek Thomas
In a recent column printed by the Indianapolis Star, the Indiana Family
Institute (not to be confused with the Indiana Institute for Working Families –
that’s us) asserts that the U.S Government alone is the culprit for the “collapse”
of the American family. To correct for this decline, they offer a simple
solution; government-subsidized marriage. It’s at least thought provoking.
According to the authors,
here’s what happens: a baby is born out of wedlock; the mother and father then calculate
(by managing to navigate a complicated and punitively-designed web of benefits)
that the mother will collect $25,000 annually in benefits if she remains single;
and thus, without the financial incentive to marry, the couple co-conspires to
cohabitate.
Citing studies
that show an increase in the number of couples who cohabitate before marrying,
they propose “cohabitation reform”. This means if the couple agrees to put a
ring on it, the government can correct their scheme (which assumes a couple’s
decision to marry is primarily one of income) by tapering out the so-called
handsome package of benefits.
In fact, the
financial incentive isn’t as great as the authors
surmise
and is certainly not widespread enough to be the sole cause of societal shifts
in marriage patterns. Only a meager 3% of the nearly 1,000,000 Hoosiers in
poverty receive TANF benefits, and of that 3%, only 11% of those are also
receiving housing assistance. All told, it would be a stretch to say that even 1%
of Hoosiers in poverty are collecting the full-range of benefits equal to
$25,000.
There are also
potential unintended consequences of
this proposal. The research on cohabitants shows that 40% of these couples split 5
years after the birth of their first child. Most likely, this isn’t the
result of Uncle Sam not being there to coax them. Using the government to push any marriage at the expense of good marriages for families who aren’t
yet ready may make it that much more difficult to leave an otherwise abusive
relationship.
Across the nation, well-meaning
attempts on both sides of the political aisle have supported marriage
counseling to “build relationship skills” for low-income
families, but have failed to produce results. Instead, the best foundation for a
healthy marriage is economic stability; without the strong foundation that
economic well-being provides, even the most dedicated partners would struggle
to keep their marriage together. Indeed, according to the same research, 91% of young
adults believe they should be financially independent or finished with their
education before marriage.
To the credit of the
authors, tapering out benefits is a good idea – for proven programs. In fact, the ‘cliff effect’ is the exact opposite of tapering - resulting in a disincentive to
work, and to two-parent families.
This phenomenon occurs when a $0.50 increase in hourly wages leads to the
complete termination of the benefit and a dramatic net loss of resources – the
loss of childcare alone can result in a 25% net annual loss of income. During our statewide outreach, we've heard
from couples considering marriage, who willingly set themselves in this poverty
trap in order to set a good example for their children. Simple reforms to income-eligibility
thresholds in the childcare development fund can restore the most basic
incentive for hard work – a raise that results in an increase in net resources
– without punishing marriage. This proposal does not pick winners and losers,
but instead provides all families with a smooth landing into economic self‐sufficiency.
It’s not misplaced to
say that pooling incomes reduces the burden of household expenses, but the same
is true when you move in with your mother or a roommate. Just because people
with education beyond high school that hold stable, good paying jobs are more
likely to get married, that doesn't mean a wedding will lead to stable
employment and a strong family.
Everyone agrees, we
really should make families a priority, but we should be doing that regardless
of how many parents are in the home. Let the record also show that according to Center for Economic and Policy Research, "there are more married parents with incomes below the poverty line than there are never-married ones, and more food-insecure adults live in households with children headed by married couples than in ones headed by just a man or woman." Ultimately, investing in and prioritizing a toolbox of
family friendly policies (such as paid sick leave, childcare and early
education) can go a long way towards strengthening all families by leading to better
education, which leads to more stable families, which leads to reduced poverty.
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