The Larger Problem

The debate over "gay marriage" is important but Mona Charen in NR points out that the focus should not be to the neglect of a larger problem: the rising number of illegitimate children. Early in my practice I had occasion to serve as court-appointed counsel in juvenile cases. IMHO, the most important factor in determining if a child will grow up with their head screwed on straight is whether the child is raised by married parents living together. This is not a knock on single parents (my mother was widowed at 45 with the oldest in college and the next seven spread between the 2d grade and 12th). Thomas Sowell once observed that only three things were necessary to reduce one's odds of living in poverty to ten percent: get a high school education, don't get married until you are at least 21, and don't children until you are married.