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State Representative Mike Benson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4378
For more information contact: Jason Wenisch 651-296-2317
NEWS RELEASE
HOW TO STOP CHILD POVERTY: MARRIAGE
ST. PAUL – With welfare programs and child poverty rates rising rapidly in Minnesota, State Representative Mike Benson (R-Rochester) said these troubling numbers can be tied directly to the deterioration of marriage over the past 50 years.
“Family is the essential foundation of a civil society,” Benson said. “If it isn't functioning, government is compelled to become involved. Once government is involved it provides disincentives for people to take responsibility for their actions. We’ve made it too easy for young men to walk away from their parenting responsibilities, and studies show that their children will likely suffer because of it.”
According to a report published by The Heritage Foundation, the principal cause of child poverty is the absence of married fathers in the home. As husbands disappear from family life, poverty and welfare dependence increase.
According to the U.S. Census, the poverty rate for single parents with children in the United States in 2008 was 36.5 percent. The rate for married couples with children was 6.4 percent. Being raised in a married family reduced a child’s probability of living in poverty by about 80 percent.
Benson said he agrees with some of the legislative solutions offered in the report. This includes establishing a broad campaign of public education in low-income areas that is similar in scope to current efforts to convince youth of the importance of staying in school or to inform the public about the health risks of smoking; overhauling the welfare system to reduce counterproductive marriage penalty incentives; and requiring able-bodied parents to work or prepare for work as a condition for receiving welfare assistance.
Benson noted that part of strengthening marriage is to educate our teenagers about the benefits of having kids only when they are married and economically stable, as well as the poverty likelihoods and significant state expenses that are brought on by non-marital childbearing.
“I’m sure our welfare laws were created with the best of intentions, but they’ve made people dependent on government,” Benson said. “There appears to be a disincentive to marriage in our welfare system, because at times there seems to be more money to be made if a couple is not married.”
“As a legislature, we must find ways to lessen the dependence on government assistance and increase the reliance on strong family units in order to give our kids their best chance for future success,” Benson concluded.
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