Lower the cost of something and people consume more of it. Tax the things you want less of and subsidize the things you want more of. Do these basic premises of economics apply to welfare? Apparently so.
The graph below shows the percentage of two-parent families within each income quartile. Although it has declined for all income groups since 1970, the decline has been most precipitous for the bottom quartile.
Income inequality has been increasing over the past 40 to 50 years. Children raised in single-family homes suffer a host of social problems and are far more likely to live their adult lives in the bottom quintile. Citing research, Jason DeParle notes,
Changes in family structure may explain anywhere from 15 to 40 percent of the increased inequality in recent decades.
Let's stop this insanity by not subsidizing socially and personally destructive behavior.
Here is DeParle's article in the New York Times.
