Ron Haskins - Marriage, Parenthood, and Public Policy

America has been undergoing profound changes in family composition over the last four decades, as out-of-wedlock births have dramatically increased, carrying with them dire social and economic consequences. It is easy to stand back and say that government can't make families, and it is also surely true.

Government efforts to reverse the breakdown of the family have met with very little success, but they may be able to teach us something about the ways in which public policy — working together with the institutions of American civil society — can help create circumstances that better enable families to form.

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