My Home Page with Links to My Other Book
Reviews
Growing Up With a Single
Parent: What Hurts, What Helps by Sara McLanahan and Gary
Sandefur
Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur describe the
results of several longitudinal studies on three outcomes: Idleness, teen
births and high school graduation. What are the findings? Low income is the
largest factor affecting achievement in single parent homes, accounting for
half of worse consequences. They argue that low income and family disruption
mutually cause each other. The authors argue that residential mobility (moving often)
and direct father factors (daddy nurturing) account for the other half.
Judith Rich Harris and others
argue that the daddy nurturing factor is mistaken because the studies failed to
decompose for genetic factors.
The combination of parents’ genes
is what causes the worse outcomes, not direct father influence. The Harris
argument concludes that low income, residential mobility and bad genes are major
causes, not to mention a slew of individual and cultural factors--pop culture,
schools, jobs, neighborhoods, crime prevention strategies and so on--that would
be the subjects of different books. The parental substance abuse factor is also
not accounted for in these studies.
The studies decomposed for race,
gender, geography, parents' education and number of siblings. Some view single
parenting as a glass half full and others as a glass half empty. Others view it
as a glass mostly full.
Some of the consequences are not
huge. Dropping out of high school is more a symptom of other problems than a
disaster itself. This is not to say that ending a marriage is without major consequences,
especially on the economic and psychological fronts.
Stepfamilies have consequences,
too--bad ones. Stepfamilies move more often than single parent families and stepparents
are often uncommitted, emotionally and economically. Even poly Jenny is not as
bad as serial monogamy. Serial monogamy leaves a trail of dumped lovers and
children. One appalling thing about our society is our willingness to devalue or
abandon children for the most asinine reasons while maintaining correct beliefs
about families. "Family is important," a man says, "but my
ex-girlfriend is a witch so to hell with my children."
Why is father absenteeism
important? First, absent fathers provide fewer resources. Absence creates new
ties that blind. Absence makes the heart grow colder. Two-thirds of children
entitled to child support get no child support or less than the full amount.
Government is neglecting its duty to get non-custodial parents to pay.
Second, two providers who pool
resources in one household can live much better than two providers in separate
households. This is called economics of scale. In 1992 45 percent of families
headed by a single parent were
in poverty. The figure for two
parent families was 8.4 percent.
Younger children face the most
poverty. In 1997 the official poverty line for a family of four was $16,050 and
23 percent of children under six were in poverty. Even 11.5 percent of married
couple children under six were below the poverty line.
The authors recommend guaranteed
jobs, human capital internships, longer school days, universal health care, a
$500 refundable tax credit, custody decisions that consider the future mobility
factor, a nationally consistent child support system, better establishment of
paternity, better enforcement of child support. One key is to encourage two
parent families without punishing children in single parent families. The $500
refundable tax credit is inadequate on both merit and consequentialist grounds.
The authors call the dependent exemption a middle class policy, but that is not
true. The dependent exemption is delivers the most money to those in the
highest tax bracket. Their economic suggestions make me wonder if there aren't
more than a handful of people who have a clue about the size and distribution
of the economy.
The authors do not offer a
specific plan for individual single parents.
Here is a plan that might be
helpful:
1. Megasearch for cheap housing in
good school districts
2. Choose play groups for young
children that have good kids
3. Avoid moving from a good
neighborhood
4. Look into pooling resources
with relatives
5. Cross your fingers
Here is suggestion for those
looking to start a family:
1. Choose your spouse carefully,
and that includes evaluating genes and other unsavory facts you would rather
ignore
2. Wait at least 12 months prior
to marriage
3. Seek John Gottman-style
pre-marital advice
4. Follow steps one through five
above for single parents
5. Buy a baseball autographed by
me for $10,000 (kidding).
It is sort of humorous watching ultra conservatives gloating over the shift of Susan Mayer and Sara McClanahan to more conservative viewpoints. Of course, we do not have to look for much counter gloating because ultra-cons are often immune to reasoning. They have been vaccinated for life. The probability of Saturn crashing into Jupiter is probably greater than the probability of Jerry Fallwell ever reading books by Robert Frank, Michael Graetz and Douglas J. Amy. Recommended.
1996