Strong families are the cornerstone of strong communities that build a stronger nation. Unfortunately, our families are in peril.
Widespread divorce rates, the erosion of traditional marriage, radical ideologies, attacks on faith, and government interference in our daily lives are breaking down the family and the country we love.
As I discussed with former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson on a recent episode of Newt’s World, America does not have to be like this. In his new book, “The Perilous Fight,” Carson offers inspiration and the answers needed to restore the family unit as America’s key foundation. Like many, Carson said he fears we are losing the country we love. He encouraged readers to return to the biblical and familial values on which our country was founded.
During our conversation, Carson said three simple steps make the greatest difference in a young person’s chances of escaping or avoiding poverty. It was shockingly simple. These steps included finishing high school, getting a full-time job, and waiting until marriage to have children. Citing a Brookings Institution survey, Carson said if each of these steps are followed, the likelihood of living in poverty drops to 2 percent or less.
This statistic should not surprise any Americans. Earlier in our nation’s history, there was a time when education, marriage, and hard work were valued. As Carson said, “Those are the kind of values that frequently are passed on through the family. However, when you have the dissolution of the traditional nuclear family, you are not getting those kinds of values passed on.”
It was once well-known that having children out of wedlock was a poor decision for parents and children. The lack of stable mother and father figures has severely negative consequences on children’s lives. Carson shared that, “Children who come from broken homes are 2.3 times as likely to be homeless—think about that—and twice as likely to get in trouble with the police or end up in jail, twice as likely to experience educational underachievement, to experience alcoholism, drug abuse, or teen pregnancy.”
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