Can Uncle Sam Sell Marriage to Americans?

Republicans have rediscovered the problem of poverty, and the party’s stars in Congress and the press have an idea for combating it: More marriages. 

"The truth is, the greatest tool to lift children and families from poverty is one that decreases the probability of child poverty by 82 percent," Sen. Marco Rubio said in a speech last week. “But it isn’t a government spending program. It’s called marriage.” 

In The Wall Street Journal, former George W. Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer concurred. “‘Marriage inequality’ should be at the center of any discussion of why some Americans prosper and others don’t,” he wrote, before suggesting the government would better off pushing matrimony than bulking up the safety net.

It is true that Americans who get married and stay married are unlikely to end up poor. As Derek Thompson noted last week, just 6.2 percent of wedded couples live below the official poverty line, compared to 31 percent of single mothers. Spouses share the costs of raising children and keeping a home, so it’s easier for them stay financially afloat.  

But does that make marriage a great anti-poverty tool, on its own?

Read more. [Image: Wikimedia Commons]