The cohabitation revolution: kids pay the price

by Chuck Colson
Mon Sep 12, 2011

Excerpt:
...That means nearly half of all American children have lived in a home where the adults are merely living together rather than married.

Today’s advocates of “modern family structure” will tell you that this is no big deal, that having a wedding ring is overrated. The kids, they say, will do fine either way. Well, the fact is, an intact marriage puts children way ahead of children in other types of households. National Review editor Rich Lowry, who labels the current trend a “cohabitation revolution,” notes, “Children in cohabiting households tend to lag children in intact married families on key social indicators and are not much better off than children in single-parent families.”

Those who are part of cohabiting households, according to the study, report “more conflict, more violence, and lower levels of satisfaction and commitment.” Children in such situations face real emotional and physical risks.

Jennifer Roback Morse of the National Organization for Marriage reports that children living with their mother and a live-in boyfriend are 33 times more likely to be abused than those living with their biological married parents. Also, children in households with unrelated adults are 50 times more likely to die from inflicted injuries, compared with children living with both biological parents. the rest image

Book: The Ring Makes All the Difference
The Hidden Consequences of Cohabitation and the Strong Benefits of Marriage