The Heritage Foundation recently released a report in January called "Saving America by Saving the Family: A Foundation for the Next 250 Years."
According to the opening summary, the needs of children — growing up with a mother and father under the same roof during their childhood — are sacrificed for the desires of adults. Policymakers and civic leaders should work to end the family crisis by treating the restoration of family “as a matter of justice, driven by two truths.”
“The first is that all children have a right to the affection and protection of the man and woman who created them. The second is that the ideal environment in which to exercise this right is in a loving and stable home with their married biological parents,” states the report.
One of its authors, Delano Squires, says one can draw a straight line between the decay of the American family and the decline of the nation.
“America's family and marriage model has moved from early and often to less and later. In 1970, close to three-quarters of American households were comprised of a married man and woman. Today, it's 47%. In 1965, about 8% of children were born out of wedlock. Today, 40% are born out of wedlock,” informs Squires.
Squires says that divorce has been devastating to the country.
“Children do best when raised by their married biological parents in a loving, low-conflict home. The worst outcomes for kids occur when they're raised by a single parent, particularly a single mom, at greater risk of poverty, worse grades, juvenile delinquency,” states Squires.
The report calls for eliminating the so-called marriage penalty, encouraging work-life balance, and establishing what are called NEST accounts, a $2,500 initial deposit into a savings account for all newly married couples.
Squires says the political left has abandoned the family. He'd like them to reconsider.
“I'm encouraging more Democrats to take up this mantle because the people who lead most of our largest cities are on the political left, and those places are places where we need to see the return of the family and a revival of marriage,” states Squires.
