Married Families Marriage inequality should be at the cen- ter of any discussion of why someAmeri- cans prosper and others don't. Marriage drops the probability of child poverty by 82%.(i) Children living in nuclear families are less likely to be poorly behaved or to have se- vere emotional or behavioral difficulties than children living in nonnuclear fami- lies.(iii) Children living in married families are healthier, more likely to have access to health care, and less likely to have learn- ing disabilities or ADHD than children liv- ing in broken families.(v) Adolescent drug use is lowest in intact married families.(vii) In the longest study of the link between health and marital happiness conducted to date, researchers studied 1,681 individ- uals over two decades and found a direct correlation between a happy marriage and good physical health. Being happily married leads to a healthier life. Regard- less of the length of time a couple has been married, there is a clear connection between physical well-being and wedded bliss.(ix) Married peers were 1/3 less likely to report being victims of relationship violence. Married peers were also 50% less likely to report perpetrating relationship vio- lence.(xiii) Researchers concluded froma 7-year lon- gitudinal study that marriage boosted the mental health and emotional well-being of young adults. Married adults experienced sharp drops in their level of depression.(xv) Married people are less likely to get can- cer and have better odds of surviving can- cer than single, separated or divorced people. Unmarried patients are at signifi- cantly higher risk of under-treatment and death resulting from cancer.(xvii) Children in families with their married bio- logical parents have higher reading achievement scores than peers living with cohabiting parents or in stepfamilies.(xix) LIVE THE LIFE 18 AUGUST 2020 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition I was recently blessed to share the mission and history of Live the Life South Florida with a group of people outside of Florida. A wise man approached me af- terward and said, "Good job, but remem- ber, you tell them, and then you tell them again." I laughed and thought, how very true. Studies suggest that repeated statements are perceived as more truth- ful than statements made less fre- quently. In simple terms: Frequency breeds familiarity, and familiarity breeds trust. Not only do consumers remember an account that gets repeated, but they are also more likely to believe it, and think it is the popular opinion. Whether it's print or digital platforms, the advertis- ing world says people need to see or hear something seven times before it sticks. According to a Gallup poll released in 2019, 41 percent of Americans trust the mass media to report the news "fully, accurately and fairly." As recently as 2017, 9 out of 10 Americans don't fact check what's being said. I wonder if the 59% of Americans who don't trust mass media, fact check what's being reported, or do we just pick and choose what we be- lieve based on the network and who agrees with us. With that said, I was recently having a conversation about the national protest expressing out- rage of injustices and our need and demand for change. My colleague shared that a leading organization in the headline news didn't believe in the Western prescribed nuclear family's necessity. I was so dumbfounded that I decided I needed to "fact check" rather than believe based on my personal relationship with the individual. This is what I found under the “About” – What We Believe – organizational tab. “We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure require- ment by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable." The verb "disrupt" and adjective "comfortable" is much of the reason we're facing today's challenges. Our families have been "disrupted," and there's nothing "com- fortable" about caring for our children. As a single parent, I can personally testify that it is the very tragedy that has propagated so many of the na- tional and global atrocities we’re faced with today. I agree that changes have to be made, and laws need to be enforced for everyone's protection, but OUR brokenness is at the root of THE brokenness. So, as the wise man said, “tell them and tell them again.” Live the Life exists to strengthen marriages and families through healthy relation- ship education beginning in middle school through senior adults. Why? Because the nuclear family structure DISRUPTS poverty, child abuse, domestic violence, addictions, crime, poor physical health, fatherless- ness, poor mental health, illiteracy and unemployment. A healthy nuclear family provides us attention, acceptance, appreciation, approval, affec- tion, respect, encouragement, support, security and COMFORT. Again, research supports the Word of God. The nuclear family/marriage is the lifestyle that God ordained in Genesis through Revelations. It is the mech- anism to help us overcome our broken relationships. It's good for us as individuals. It's best for our children. It's better for our communities, our nation, our world and our witness. Here is a chart outlining the Tale of Two Families. - Lisa May - Executive Director, Live the Life South Florida The Tale of Two Families Unmarried Families Nearly 37% of single mothers with chil- dren were poor, compared to only 6.4% of married couples with children. Single parent families with children are almost 6 times more likely to be poor than mar- ried couples.(ii) Family fragmentation costs U.S. taxpay- ers at least $112 billion every year, and more than $1 trillion each decade. The cost to Florida taxpayers is $1.95 Billion every year.(iv) The trend toward single-parent families is probably the most important of the re- cent family trends that have affected chil- dren and adolescents. Children in such families have negative life outcomes at two to three times the rate of children in married, two-parent families.(vi) A child who is not living with his or her own two married parents is at greater risk for child abuse.(viii) Divorce is correlated with more truancy, de- creased ability to form successful social rela- tionships and solve conflicts, and more frequent involvement incrimeanddrugabuse. This increases a child’s likelihood of being at- risk for gang influence and involvement.(x) Boys reared in single-mother or cohabitating households are 2 times more likely to commit a crime that leads to incarceration.(xi)Adoles- cents in single-parent families are more likely to engage in use of illegal drugs.(xii) Women ages 13-19 that have ever lived with a single, solo parent have a greater risk of having a premarital pregnancy then young women who have never lived with a single, solo parent.(xiv) The best predictor of father presence is marital status; when a father’s romantic relationship with the child’s mother ends, more likely than not, so does father in- volvement with their children.(xvi) Children living with divorced single par- ents or in stepfamilies at age 14 had lower levels of education attainment, lower annual earnings, and less presti- gious occupations at age 26.(xviii) Divorced and unmarried men have mor- tality rates up to 250% higher than mar- ried men. Divorced men are more likely to partake in risky activities such as abusing alcohol and drugs.(xx) A Tale of Two Families – What Does Research Tell Us? This information was compiled from a variety of studies. For a complete list of references, contact Lisa May, Executive Director of Live the Life South Florida. She can be reached at
[email protected] or by mail at 5110 N. Federal Hwy. Suite 102, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33308