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Research Archive

February 25, 2025

We Replaced Families with Uncle Sam. DOGE Must Make the Right Choices When Cutting

If we want a smaller government, we need stronger families.  President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the size and scope of government through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has the potential to change the trajectory of the nation. But Trump can’t deliver this promise only by cutting wasteful spending. American taxpayers have been forced to fund…

February 25, 2025

Ohio Ranks Only 29th In The Family Structure Index

Ohio ranks 29th in family strength, according to a new report from the Institute for Family Studies and the Center for Christian Virtue. The Hope and a Future report spotlights the state of Ohio families, details the consequences of family breakdown in the Buckeye state, and charts a policy course to turn things round. A Dream Deferred in Ohio…

February 21, 2025

Hope And A Future: Forging Strong And Stable Families In Ohio, 2025

What is the American dream? It is a “better, richer, and happier life for all our citizens of every rank,” in the words of James Truslow Adams, the historian who coined the term just over a century ago. Adams knew it would be hard to sustain the dream. That is why every generation must strive,…

February 18, 2025

Family-Friendly Policies for the 119th Congress

Key Points Read the PDF. Introduction America is in a baby bust, with birth rates hitting record lows and still falling. Young Americans are getting married later and less. Meanwhile, parents face rising stress, and children suffer an epidemic of anxiety. The family is the fundamental building block of a society, as the cell is…

February 10, 2025

For Better: Four Proven Ways To A Strong And Stable Marriage

Introduction “Marriage is a path to misery and a transition of loss marked by giving up and missing out.” This is the message that, surprisingly enough, is emanating from both leftwing journalists like Amy Shearn, who tells us in The New York Times that “Married motherhood in America… is a game no one wins,” and rightwing online influencers…

February 6, 2025

The Trump Administration is Already Proving to be Family Friendly

The first Trump administration did not do a lot to advance the family policy ball. Sure, they doubled the Child Tax Credit to $2,000 in 2017. Otherwise, Trump 1.0 didn’t score many wins on the family field. But there are growing signs the second Trump administration will move much more aggressively to make America more family friendly….

February 6, 2025

The 10th Annual American Family Survey: Opportunities and Obstacles to a Broad-Based Political Coalition for Families

Event Summary On February 6, Chris Karpowitz and Jeremy Pope of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy presented research findings from the 10th annual American Family Survey. Dr. Karpowitz examined how families across the political spectrum behave in similar manners. Whether Democrat or Republican, parents take pride in raising children. The survey…

January 30, 2025

American Greatness Depends on Strong Families

President Trump signaled his commitment to making America “greater, stronger and far more exceptional than ever before” in his important Inaugural Address last week. Crucially, Trump made a personal commitment to fight for parents and their dreams for their children. Meanwhile, Vice President Vance declared at last week’s March for Life it was “the task of our government to…

December 12, 2024

Which Men Cheat Least? Republican Husbands, Especially ‘Religious Wife Guys’ 

Republicans have an infidelity problem. If your only impression of Republican marriages was ripped from the latest headlines, this would seem to be a reasonable conclusion. But the picture appears different when we look beyond the headlines at the lives of ordinary Republican men. It turns out that Republican husbands, especially religious ones, are less…