Serial: Breakdown of the Family - Part 1

The Children In 1950, 75 percent of black families were two-parent homes. A strong family unit was the backbone of black America. Three out of four children had both parents at home. Today, 73 percent of black families are not traditional family units. Most black children now grow up without fathers. The result is a world turned upside down as children copy what they see and repeat what they learn. While the black family has been the hardest hit, by no means is it the only segment to suffer. The American family of every race, every ethnicity, continues to disintegrate as virtually no one steps up to address the problems and propose solutions. Since 1980, the marriage rate has dropped 45 percent and 41 percent of children are born to unmarried mothers (73 percent in the black community). Fatherless or single-parent homes produce children who are two times more likely to be arrested for juvenile crime and twice as likely to be treated for emotional and behavioral problems. They are also 33 percent more likely to drop out of school and three times more likely to end up in jail by age 30. This isn’t to say that single moms can’t be fantastic loving parents or single dads are just not capable of raising wonderful, well-adjusted, highly successful kids — because they can and they do. Grandparents can and do wonderful child-rearing. Same-sex couples certainly love their children. And sometimes the ideal family unit, for whatever reason, just is not possible. But in general, where possible, traditional family units produce the best results, consistently, over decades of studies. Could it be that biologically a woman brings certain traits and skills to child-rearing that a man doesn’t, and vice-versa? And is it just possible that that combination leads to the most well adjusted, highest functioning human beings?