Society Needs Strong Families

                Communities, nations, and society itself depend on strong families.  Society depends on families being strong because the family is the core unit of society.  If the core unit breaks down, there is little hope for the rest of the structure.

                Why is the family the basic unit of society?  The Mormon news room  has an article explaining why the family is so important.

                “The bonds between husband and wife, parents and children, are so firmly planted in history and experience that we often take them for granted – until, as happens from time to time, those bonds break down.  As a solid body of research shows, there is no replacement for the way this institution creates and develops human relationships.  Family is no longer, nor ever has been, something that is simply `granted.’  As anyone who has tried it knows, raising a family and sustaining a marriage are challenging things to do.  However, at stake is not only the health of the individual family but also the prosperity and future of society.

                “Social scientists agree that not all is well with family and marriage.  A report on a recent national survey captured the mood:  `America’s parents are anxious.’  And as the report shows, anxiety about family decline taps into `a larger perception that our communities are less safe, our work ethic has slipped, and American religious and spiritual life has ebbed.’

                “The institutions of family and marriage are wearing down.  Marriage rates continue to decline:  the average couple marrying today has a 40-50 percent chance of divorce or separation.  Cohabitation is increasingly commonplace and when children are involved results in more break-ups than marriage.  Around 41 percent of all births take place outside of marriage and for the first time more than half of births to women under 30 occur outside marriage.  The institutions that are meant to provide security have become a source of insecurity.  As many as 44 percent of those in the millennial age group agree that marriage is becoming `obsolete.’

                “But what does this portend?  The health of marriage also has economic implications.  According to Pew Research, `married adults have made greater economic gains over the past four decades than unmarried adults.’  In addition, children in single-parent households are more likely to live in poverty.  But children in two-parent families around the world tend to have better educational outcomes than those living with only one parent or without a parent.  Of course not all families are alike, and it takes mutual commitment and community support for even the best of them to work.”

                I encourage you to read the entire article, which gives many references for its data.  It continues in its explanation of why strong families are important to society.  I am sure that you will agree that strong families strengthen society.