Can Marriage Help Solve Poverty?

Dave Iverson

Sep 14, 2012 at

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A third of households headed by single mothers are in poverty. A new report by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation argues that promoting marriage is America’s greatest weapon against poverty. We discuss the report, the link between single-parent households and poverty and what can be done about it.

More: Marriage: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty – A study from the Heritage Foundation
More: More on the study from NPR
More: 20 Years Later, It Turns Out Dan Quayle Was Right – Op-ed by Isabel Sawhill referenced during show
More: Marriage is Not an Antidote to Poverty – Stephanie Coontz’s op-ed at cnn.com

Guests:

Stephanie Coontz, professor at Evergreen State College, author "Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage" and director of research and public education at the Council on Contemporary Families

Isabel Sawhill, economist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and co-director of the Center on Children and Families at Brookings

Rachel Sheffield, research associate at The Heritage Foundation and co-author of the report on single parents and poverty

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