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June 30, 2023

House Republican Plan Penalizes Marriage

We just got more bad news about marriage. A record-high 25% of 40-year-olds in the United States were never married in 2021, according to sobering new statistics from the Pew Research Center. That statistic compares to…

June 22, 2023

Thanks to the Baby Bust, America Is Getting Older

When I was born in 1978, the median American was 30 years old. These days, the median American is 38.9, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday. That’s a rapid aging of the American population. Some portion…

June 20, 2023

Down Through the Ages

How much do we have in common with our children and grandchildren? Less than our parents had in common with us—or at least that’s the theory animating Jean M. Twenge’s…

June 16, 2023

Marriage Is Still the Best Way to Bond a Father to His Children

Editor’s Note: The following essay is an edited transcript of AEI senior fellow Ian Rowe’s opening remarks at “A Debate on Fatherhood,” hosted by the National Marriage Project at UVA and the American Enterprise…

June 11, 2023

Now Political Polarization Comes for Marriage Prospects

Marriage rates in America are falling fast: Many men and women are marrying later, and more and more people are never marrying at all. Marriage is in retreat for a host of reasons, but…

June 2, 2023

America’s Baby Bust Is Back on Track

America’s birthrate has been falling steadily since the Great Recession 15 years ago, and the brief uptick of 2021 proved to be a statistical blip, as new birth data show…

May 26, 2023

The Power of the Success Sequence

Introduction The “Success Sequence,” a formula to help young adults succeed in America, has been discussed widely in recent years, including by Brookings Institution scholars Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill….

May 25, 2023

Education Freedom and Work Opportunities as Catalysts for Increasing the Birth Rate Among Married Couples

Summary Pursuing new, commonsense approaches to education reform and work–family policies, from childcare and early education through higher education and workforce flexibility, will foster the conditions for family flourishing and…

April 25, 2023

A Debate on Fatherhood

Richard Reeves and Ian Rowe debate the question, “Does strengthening fatherhood depend upon renewing marriage in America?” In his recent book, Of Boys and Men, Brookings Senior Fellow Richard Reeves…

April 17, 2023

Data Tools 6: The Geography of Traditional Families in America

The sixth in a series from Charles Murray. “Every generation, civilization is invaded by barbarians—we call them ‘children.’” These words, often attributed to Hannah Arendt, express a truth that societies…