Marriage is as American as, well, getting hitched. The bride, the groom, all that "going to the chapel." And now, Uncle Sam wants his place in the aisle.
As welfare legislation comes up for debate in Congress, marriage is moving to the center of government efforts to fight poverty. The Bush administration plans to spend up to $300 million a year promoting matrimony as one way to fix poverty. Some criticize this approach, claiming it disparages all those who live and work as single parents. They worry it could encourage mothers to stay in abusive relationships.
But the research says, overwhelmingly, that kids are just plain better off if they are raised in two-parent homes. And a even though marriage may be a private contract, it has very public consequences. The economics of "I do."
