Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
7 Figures: Family Structure and Economic Success
7 Figures: Family Structure and Economic Success
Jan 7, 2026 6:46 AM

Family structure is one of the most significant, though oft-overlooked, factors that affect the economic fortunes of Americans. A new study from AEI titled “For Richer or Poorer” documents the relationships between family patterns and economic well-being in America and shows how radically it can affect e.

Here are seven figures you should know from the study:

1. The growth in median e of families with children would be 44 percent higher if the United States enjoyed 1980 levels of married parenthood today.

2. At least 32 percent of the growth in e inequality since 1979 among families with children and 37 percent of the decline in men’s employment rates during that time can be linked to the decreasing number of Americans who form and maintain stable, married families.

3. Young men and women from intact families enjoy an annual “intact-family premium” that amounts to $6,500 and $4,700, respectively, over the es of their peers from single-parent families.

4. Men enjoy a marriage premium of at least $15,900 per year in their individual pared to their single peers.

5. Black men enjoy a marriage premium of at least $12,500 in their individual pared to their single peers.

6. Men with a high-school degree or less enjoy a marriage premium of at least pared to their single peers.

7. Men and women who are currently married and were raised in an intact family enjoy an annual “family premium” in their household e that exceeds that of their unmarried peers who were raised in nonintact families by at least $42,000.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
5 Facts about hurricanes
Hurricane Florence has struck the Carolinas, dumping massive amounts of rain that could trigger catastrophic floods inland. Here are five facts you should know about these types of deadly storms: 1. A hurricane is a form of tropical storm that form over warm ocean waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, southern Atlantic Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico. When the winds of a tropical storm are less than 38 mph, it is called a tropical depression, and when the...
Abp Justin Welby compared Amazon to leeches — but it built his church
In a recent speech, the Archbishop of Canterbury likened Amazon executives to leeches and ancient Aztec rulers who “ate the flesh of human sacrifices.” However, in reality Amazon has generated such prosperity for its shareholder, the Church of England, that it has financially built up the body of Christ. In a harsh address to the Trades Union Congress last week, Welby said that Amazon “leached off the taxpayer,” since its low tax bill proves “they don’t pay for our defence,...
How Trump’s tariffs hurt Michigan industry
“President Donald Trump’s continued embrace of tariffs spells danger for Michigan,” says Tyler Groenendal in an op-ed for the Detroit Times. Groenendal, the foundation relations coordinator at the Acton Institute, says though Trump is noted for his “America First” refrain, his call for tariffs will ultimately hurt America the most: Michigan is particularly vulnerable to the consequences of protectionism. According to estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau of Economic Analysis, imports and exports accounted for 38.9 percent of the Michigan’s...
How expert are expert stock pickers?
Note: This is post #93 in a weekly video series on basic economics. In his 1973 book, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, economist Burton Malkiel made a controversial claim: a blindfolded monkey, throwing darts at the financial pages, could select a basket of stocks that would do just as well as a set chosen by the pros. Economist Alex Tabarrok explains why that is true and why the first rule of smart investing is “ignore the expert stock pickers.”...
Radio Free Acton: Inside the studio of a violin maker; Upstream on the film ‘Andrei Rublev’
On this episode of Radio Free Acton, award winning news anchor Anne Marie Schieber visits the studio of Matthew Noykos, a violin maker in Grand Rapids, MI, to learn more about his craft and discuss how he finds purpose and fulfillment in his everyday work. Then, on the Upstream segment, Bruce Edward Walker speaks with Robert Bird, author of two books on Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, about Tarkovsky’s film “Andrei Rublev,” which was recently re-issued by The Criterion Collection. Check...
A crash course on how to interpret the U.S. Constitution
Today is Constitution Day, a holiday celebrated in America every year on September 17, the anniversary of the day the framers signed the document. The U.S. Constitution is arguably one of the most important legal documents in the history of the world. Because of this venerated status, though, many people assume that you need to be a Juris Doctor (J.D.) and an expert on recondite Constitutional law to understand how to read the document, much less interpret the Constitution. But...
A Jewish perspective on market, justice, and charity
“Not a day goes by when there’s not some concern raised about the state of the economy and how people are faring,” says Curt Biren in this week’s Acton Commentary. “While recent economic growth has been promising, wage growth is lackluster, many say.” The middle class is shrinking. There’s too much e inequality, and the list goes on. These concerns are pelling. Who wouldn’t like to see more opportunity and more growth? People yearn for the good life, to experience...
Rev. Robert Sirico’s ‘Catholique et Libéral’ launched in Paris
The full-house at Paris Story theater brought together many ranks of French leadership from economics think tanks, businesses, human rights advocacies, and the Catholic Church. From left to right: David Briend (publisher), Rev. Robert Sirico (author), Emmanuelle Gave (interpreter), Jean-Philippe Delsol (IREF president), Charles Gave (preface author and president of Institut des Libertés) Recently, on September 6, Acton’s president and co-founder Rev. Robert Sirico launched his first trade press book in French Catholique et Libéral. Les raisons morales d’une économie...
Post-industrial economics: Studying human action in an age of intangibles
As pletes its transition into the Age of Information, economists are struggling to identify the drivers and develop their predictive models accordingly. Alas, as businesses continue to grow and evolve more rapidly, and as the corresponding systems continue to increase plexity, many economists still view individuals and businesses as mostly static and reactionary. “Mainstream economists treat the firm as if it were an inorganic particle that does nothing but react to forces around it,” writes economist Arnold Kling in National...
Stiglitz vs. Easterly: Leading economists debate the role of markets in reducing poverty
In a fascinating debate hosted by Reason Magazine, development economists William Easterly and Joseph Stiglitz discuss how to best fight global poverty, responding to a simple question: “Which is a better approach, freer markets or increased government action?” Easterly, a professor at New York University and author of the popular book, The White Man’s Burden, highlights the importance of freer markets, arguing they provide better incentives, better mechanisms for sharing knowledge, and, most importantly, better rights. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved