Marriage & Poverty: District of Columbia

Marriage:Washington, D.C.’s No. 1

Weapon AgainstChildhood Poverty

How the Collapse of Marriage Hurts Childrenand Three Steps to Reverse the Damage

A Heritage Foundation Book of Charts • January 2012

Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society

Growth of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing in Washington, D.C., 1929–2010

PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK

Note: Initiated by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, the War on Poverty led to the creation of more than three dozen welfare programs to aid poor persons. Government has spent $16.7 trillion on means-tested aid to the poor since 1964.

Sources: U.S. Government, U.S. Census Bureau, and National Center for Health Statistics.

heritage.orgChart 1 • Marriage and Poverty in Washington, D.C.

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80%

1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

54.8%

Throughout most of the history of the District of Columbia, out-of-wedlock childbearing was relatively uncommon.

When the federal government’s War on Poverty began in 1964, around one in four children in Washington, D.C. were born out of wedlock. However, over the next four decades, the number rose rapidly. By 2010, 54.8 percent of births in Washington, D.C. occurred outside of marriage.

Death of Marriage in Washington, D.C., 1929–2010

PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN BORN TO MARRIED COUPLES

Note: In any given year, the sum of the out-of-wedlock birth rate (Chart 1) and the marital birth rate (Chart 2) equals 100 percent of all births.



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1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

45.2%

The marital birth rate — the percentage of all births that occur to married parents — is the flip side of the out-of-wedlock birth rate.

Through most of the 20th cen-tury, marital births were the norm in Washington, D.C. In 1964, over 74 percent of births occurred to married couples.

However, in the mid-1960s, the marital birth rate began to fall steadily. By 2010, only 45.2 per-cent of births in Washington, D.C. occurred to married couples.

In Washington, D.C., Marriage Drops the Probability of Child Poverty by 90 Percent

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007–2009 data.


PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN THAT ARE POOR

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20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Single-Parent, Female-Headed

Families

Married, Two-Parent Families

36.0%

3.5%

The rapid rise in out-of-wedlock childbearing is a major cause of high levels of child pov-erty in Washington, D.C.

Some 36 percent of single moth-ers with children are poor com-pared to 3.5 percent of married couples with children.

Single-parent families with children are more than ten times more likely to be poor than fami-lies in which the parents are mar-ried.

The higher poverty rate among single-mother families is due both to the lower education levels of the mothers and the lower income due to the absence of the father.

In Washington, D.C., Six in Ten Families with Children Are Not Married



38.3%

61.7%

Unmarried Families

Married Families

Overall, married couples head less than 40 percent of families with children in Washington, D.C. Over 60 percent are single-parent families.

In Washington, D.C., 94 Percent of Poor Families with Children Are Not Married



6.1%

93.9%

Unmarried Families

Married Families

Among poor families with children in Washington, D.C., 94 percent are not married. By contrast, only six percent of poor families with children are headed by married couples.

In Washington, D.C., Few Unwed Births Occur to Teenagers

Note: Figures have been rounded.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008 NHS data.


PERCENTAGE OF OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHS BY AGE OF MOTHER

Age18–19:12.9%

Age20–24:31.9%

Age25–29:25.1%

Age30–54:22.2%

UnderAge 18:7.9%

Out-of-wedlock births are often confused erroneously with teen births, but only 7.9 percent of out-of-wedlock births in Washing-ton, D.C. occur to girls under age 18.

By contrast, some 70 percent of out-of-wedlock births occur to young adult women between the ages of 18 and 29.

Less-Educated Women Are More Likely to Give Birth Outside of Marriage


PERCENTAGE OF BIRTHS THAT ARE MARITAL OR OUT OF WEDLOCK

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50%

60%

70%

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90%

100%

High School Dropout

(0–11Years)

High School Graduate

(12Years)

SomeCollege(13–15Years)

College Graduate

(16+Years)

65.2%

54.5%

42.0%

8.1%

34.8%

45.5%

58.0%

91.9%

Mother’s education level

Unmarried Mothers

Married Mothers

Unwed childbearing occurs most frequently among the women who will have the greatest difficulty sup-porting children by themselves: those with low levels of education.

In the U.S., among women who are high school dropouts, about 65.2 percent of all births occur outside marriage. Among women who have only a high school diploma, well over half of all births occur outside mar-riage. By contrast, among women with at least a college degree, only 8.1 percent of births are out of wed-lock.

Note: Specific data on out-of-wedlock births and maternal education are not available in Washington, D.C. However, the pattern varies little between states. Wash-ington, D.C. data will be very similar to the national data presented in this chart.


Both Marriage and Education Are Highly Effective in Reducing Child Poverty in Washington, D.C.



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30%

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60%

70%

High School Dropout

High School Graduate

SomeCollege

College Graduate

59.5%

14.6%

42.5%

11.2%

31.3%

7.2% 9.2%

1.2%

Note: Virtually none of the heads of families in the chart who are high school dropouts are minor teenagers.

The poverty rate of married couples with children is dramati-cally lower than the rate for house-holds headed by single parents. This is true even when the married couple is compared to single par-ents with the same education level.

For example, in Washington, D.C., the poverty rate for a single mother who has only a high school diploma is 42.5 percent, but the poverty rate for a married couple family headed by an indi-vidual who, similarly, has only a high school degree is far lower at 11.2 percent.

On average, marriage drops the poverty rate by about 78 percent among families with the same education level.

PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN THAT ARE POOR

Poverty Rate of Families by Education and Marital Status of the Head of Household

Single Married

Unwed Birth Rates Vary Strongly by Race in Washington, D.C.



PERCENT OF BIRTHS THAT ARE OUT OF WEDLOCK

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70%

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100%

All Races White Non-

Hispanic

Hispanic BlackNon-

Hispanic

57.8%

7.0%

72.6%79.1%

8.3%

Out-of-wedlock childbearing varies considerably by race.

In 2008, 57.8 percent of births in Washington D.C. occurred outside marriage. The rate was lowest among non-Hispanic whites. Within that group about one in 15 births (7 percent) were non-marital.

Among Hispanics, nearly three in four births were out of wedlock. Among blacks, nearly eight in ten births were to unmarried women (79.1 percent).

Growth of Unwed Childbearing Among Blacks in Washington, D.C., 1929–2008



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1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2008

Between 1929 and 1950, around one in five black children in the District of Columbia were born outside marriage. During the 1950s and early 1960s the rate rose slowly.

Following the onset of the War on Poverty in 1964, the rate increased dramatically. Ten years later, in 1974, well over half the black births in the District were non-marital.

By 1994, eight out of ten black births in D.C. occurred outside marriage. The rate has remained at or near that level up to the present.

Note: Beginning in 1996, the govern-ment began counting black Hispanic births separately. This made little difference in the black non-marital birth rate in D.C.


Black(Includes BlackHispanics)

BlackNon-Hispanics

Growth of Unwed Childbearing Among Whites and Hispanics in Washington, D.C., 1929–2008




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1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2008

Between 1929 and 1963, the unwed birth rate among whites (both Hispanic and non-Hispanic) in Washington, D.C. was generally less than 5 percent. In the mid-1960s the rate increased quickly, reaching 20 percent in 1968.

Beginning in 1996, the government began counting white Hispanic and white non-Hispanic births separately.

Since then, the Hispanic unwed birth rate has risen rapidly. In 1996, 55.3 percent of Hispanic births in the District were non-marital. In 2008, the figure was 72.6 percent.

By contrast, the unwed birth rate among white non-Hispanic women has actually fallen, from 12 percent of births in 1996 to 7 percent in 2008. The decline in unwed births among white non-Hispanic is unusual and reflects the high socioeconomic status of most white non-Hispanics living in D.C. During the same period, in the rest of the nation, the unwed birth rate of white non-Hispanics has risen significantly.

White(Includes Hispanics)

WhiteNon-Hispanics

Hispanic

Racial Composition of All Births and Out-of-Wedlock Births in Washington, D.C.

ALL BIRTHS OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHS



Note: Figures have been rounded.

54.9%

White Non-Hispanic

Asian/Other

Black Non-Hispanic

Hispanic

25.9%

16.5%

75.1%

20.7%

1.1%

3.1%

2.7%

In Washington, D.C. in 2008, some 54.9 percent of all births occurred to non-Hispanic blacks, 25.9 percent occurred to non-Hispanic whites, and 16.5 percent occurred to Hispanics.

Because blacks and Hispanics are more likely to have children without being married, they account for nearly all out-of-wedlock births in Washington, D.C.

In Washington, D.C. in 2008, 75.1 percent of all non-marital births were to non-Hispanic black women, 20.7 percent were to Hispanic women, and only 3.1 percent were to white non-Hispanic women.

Non-Married Black Families Are Six Times More Likely to Be Poor in Washington, D.C.



PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES THAT ARE POOR

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30%

35%

Married Families Non-Married Families

5.3%

29.8%

Marriage leads to lower poverty rates for blacks, whites, and His-panics.

In 2009, the poverty rate for married black couples in Washing-ton, D.C. was 5.3 percent, while the poverty rate for non-married black families was about six times higher at 29.8 percent.

Non-Married White Families Are 13 Times More Likely to Be Poor in Washington, D.C.




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0.7%

8.8%

In 2009, the poverty rate for married white families in Wash-ington, D.C. was 0.7 percent. But the poverty rate for non-married white families was nearly 13 times higher at 8.8 percent.

Non-Married Hispanic Families Are Twice as Likely to Be Poor in Washington, D.C.




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25%


9.3%

19.3%

In 2009, the poverty rate for Hispanic married families in Washington, D.C. was 9.3 percent, while the poverty rate among non-married families was over two times higher at 19.3 percent.

Three Steps to Reduce Child Poverty through Marriage

1) Provide information on the benefits of marriage in reducing child poverty and improving child well-being.

2) Reduce anti-marriage penalties in means-tested welfare programs.

3) Promote life-goal-planning, marriage-strengthening, and divorce-reduction programs to increase healthy marriages and reduce divorce and separation.

Marriage is a highly effective institution which greatly decreases parental and child poverty while improving long-term outcomes for children. Conversely, the absence of marriage greatly increases welfare costs and imposes added burdens on taxpayers.

Unfortunately, almost no information on these topics is available in low-income communities. This information deficit should be corrected in the following manner:

• Explain the benefits of marriage in middle and high schools with a high proportion of at-risk youth;

• Create public education campaigns in low-income communities on the benefits of marriage; and,

• Require federally funded birth control clinics to provide information on the benefits of marriage and the skills needed to develop stable families to interested low-income clients.

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Marriage & Poverty: District of Columbia