November 14, 2008
The Relationship Between Family Structure and Adolescent Sexual Activity
By Samuel W. Sturgeon
(Special Report #25)
Families remain one of the most powerful socializing influences on the sexual attitudes and behaviors of adolescents. Adolescents from intact family structures are less likely ...
October 30, 2008
Same–Sex Marriage and the Threat to Religious Liberty
By Thomas M. Messner
(Backgrounder #2201)
Judicial decisions redefining marriage to include same-sex unions state that limiting marriage to men and women is a form of unacceptable discrimination against homosexuals. Individuals ...
October 30, 2008
Executive Summary: Same–Sex Marriage and the Threat to Religious Liberty
By Thomas M. Messner
(Executive Summary #2201)
Judicial decisions redefining marriage to include same-sex unions state that limiting marriage to men and women is a form of unacceptable discrimination against homosexuals. Individuals ...
October 7, 2008
Teen Sex: The Parent Factor
By Christine C. Kim
(Backgrounder #2194)
The statistics on teen sexuality in the United States are troubling. Two-thirds of 12th graders have engaged in sexual activity and one in five will ...
September 22, 2008
Academic Success Begins at Home: How Children Can Succeed in School
By Christine C. Kim
(Backgrounder #2185)
Social science research demonstrates a strong link between the intact family structure, parental involvement, and educational outcomes, from school readiness to college completion. The intact ...
September 15, 2008
Reforming Health Care to Protect Parents' Rights
By Daniel Patrick Moloney, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2181)
Medicaid, SCHIP, Title X, and other government health care programs deny parents the right to know which medical services their children receive, even when the ...
May 20, 2008
California Court's Judicial Activism Threatens the Institution of Marriage
By Jennifer A. Marshall, Daniel Patrick Moloney, Ph.D. and Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1932)
On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court overturned California voters' 61 percent majority, expressed in 2000's Proposition 22, in favor of affirming marriage as ...
April 22, 2008
Executive Summary: Abstinence Education: Assessing the Evidence
By Christine C. Kim and Robert Rector
(Executive Summary #2126)
Executive Summary; Abstinence education provides life and decision-making skills that lay the foundation for personal responsibility and healthy relationships later in life. Eleven of the ...
April 22, 2008
Abstinence Education: Assessing the Evidence
By Christine C. Kim and Robert Rector
(Backgrounder #2126)
Abstinence education provides life and decision-making skills that lay the foundation for personal responsibility and healthy relationships later in life. Eleven of the 15 authentic ...
December 3, 2007
SCHIP Expansion: More Birth Control for Minors, Less Involvement by Parents
By Daniel Patrick Moloney
(WebMemo #1715)
This legislation would help make contraception available to millions of children while prohibiting doctors and schools from informing the children’s parents.
December 3, 2007
The SCHIP Bill: Why the Premium Assistance Provisions Won’t Work
By Nina Owcharenko
(WebMemo #1717)
Congress should create a premium assistance program that empowers parents to make decisions for their children with regard to health care coverage.
September 20, 2007
Why Families Should Be Concerned about SCHIP
By Connie Marshner
(WebMemo #1630)
Congress should keep SCHIP focused on uninsured children from low-income families and broaden the options available to middle-income families whose children are uninsured.
August 29, 2007
Restoring the American Social Contract
By Stuart M. Butler, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #1039)
Returning to the principles of mutual obligation within a financially responsible framework will restore the American social contract to its original principles as a bargain ...
June 5, 2007
Foster Care Children Need Better Educational Opportunities
By Dan Lips
(Backgrounder #2039)
Because the estimated 518,000 children in foster care are among the most at-risk children in American society, and because the quality of their primary and ...
March 29, 2007
Outcome-Based Evaluation: Faith-Based Social Service Organizations and Stewardship
By Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., Claudia Horn, Calvin W. Edwards, Karen M. Woods, and Collette Caprara
(Special Report #13)
Outcome-based evaluation is a way to measure organizational effectiveness that has special value for faith-based service organizations. Unlike the process-oriented “counts and amounts” reports that ...
March 23, 2007
Marriage and Caste in America: Separate and Unequal Families in a Post-Marital Age
By Kay S. Hymowitz
(Heritage Lecture #1005)
The lack of clarity and cultural consensus about the decline of American marriage is dangerous. Erasing the bond between marriage and child rearing leads to ...
February 5, 2007
Analyzing the Effect of State Legislation on the Incidence of Abortion Among Minors
By Michael J. New, Ph.D.
(Center for Data Analysis Report #07-01)
Analysis of a comprehensive dataset of minor abortion rates from over 40 states over a span of 15 years indicates that parental involvement legislation and ...
December 18, 2006
Why Religion Matters Even More: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Backgrounder #1992)
A steadily growing body of evidence from the social sciences demonstrates that regular religious practice benefits individuals, families, and communities, and thus the nation as ...
July 18, 2006
Getting It Wrong: How The New York Times Misinterprets Abortion Statistics and Arrives at Incorrect Conclusions
By Michael J. New, Ph.D.
(Center for Data Analysis Report #06-05)
In a front-page article on March 6, 2006, The New York Times attempts to make the case that parental involvement laws are ineffective. However, better ...
March 7, 2006
A Lesson in Data and Analysis for the New York Times
By Michael J. New, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1009)
The paper publishes an analysis of abortion incidence that's more flimsy than the paper its printed on.
January 23, 2006
Using Natural Experiments to Analyze the Impact of State Legislation on the Incidence of Abortion
By Michael J. New, Ph.D.
(Center for Data Analysis Report #06-01)
During the 2004 election, there was a substantial amount of discussion about whether or not "pro-life" legislation effectively reduces the incidence of abortion. Some religious ...
November 9, 2005
Pornography's Impact on Marriage & The Family
By Jill C. Manning
(Testimony )
Research reveals many systemic effects of Internet pornography that are undermining an already vulnerable culture of marriage and family.
June 6, 2005
Soft Patriarchs, New Men: How Christianity Shapes Fathers and Husbands
By W. Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D., and Jennifer A. Marshall
(Heritage Lecture #880)
Religious orthodoxy appears to be one answer to the process whereby men are more likely to be preoccupied with work and leisure at the expense ...
February 28, 2005
Beyond the Words at Beijing + 10: How U.N. Policy Falls Short of Women's Best Interests
By Jennifer A. Marshall, Melissa G. Pardue, and Grace V. Smith
(Backgrounder #1829)
As the U.N. observes the 10th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, the United States should continue to focus on policies that promote the domestic and ...
February 10, 2005
Welfare Reform and The Healthy Marriage Initiative
By Robert Rector
(Testimony )
The erosion of marriage during the past four decades has had large-scale negative effects on both children and adults: It lies at the heart of ...
October 27, 2004
Pro-Life Policy: Does It Make a Difference?
By Andrew Grossman
(WebMemo #598)
Pro-life policies reduce abortion rates. This surprises some.
September 29, 2004
The Transatlantic Divide on Marriage: Dutch Data and the U.S. Debate on Same-Sex Unions
By Patrick F. Fagan and Grace Smith
(WebMemo #577)
Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands may have sped marriage's decline there.
September 21, 2004
Summary: Teens Who Make Virginity Pledges Have Substantially Improved Life Outcomes
By Robert Rector, Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., and Jennifer A. Marshall
(WebMemo #570)
Adolescents who take a virginity pledge have lower levels of sexual activity and better life outcomes.
September 1, 2004
Understanding the Marriage Debate (PowerPoint)
By The Heritage Foundation
(WebMemo )
A PowerPoint presentation created in September 2004 on understanding the marriage debate.
July 12, 2004
Marriage Amendment Protects Federalism
By Edwin Meese, III
(WebMemo #531)
The fundamental definition of marriage is no mere policy issue
July 12, 2004
Will DOMA Protect Marriage?
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #532)
Assuming the Supreme Court follows its own precedents and jurisprudence, the Defense of Marriage Act will fall.
July 9, 2004
Social Science and Same-Sex Marriage: Translations from the Netherland's Reformatorisch Dagblad
By The Heritage Foundation
(WebMemo )
Severeal leading Dutch researchers comment on the consequences of same-sex marriage in the Netherlands.
May 17, 2004
Marriage: What Social Science Says and Doesn't Say
By Jennifer Marshall
(WebMemo #503)
Social science data indicate that the intact family best ensures the current and future welfare of children and society when compared with other common forms ...
May 17, 2004
A Defining Moment: Marriage, the Courts, and the Constitution
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #1759)
The most responsible step Congress can take to preserve marriage is to send a constitutional amendment that protects the institution of marriage to the states ...
May 13, 2004
The Social Scientific Data on the Impact of Marriage and Divorce on Children
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Testimony )
The Social Scientific Data on the Impact of Marriage and Divorce on Children before the Senate of the United States: Committee on Commerce, Science, and ...
March 30, 2004
Reducing Domestic Violence: How the Healthy Marriage Initiative Can Help
By Melissa G. Pardue and Robert Rector
(Backgrounder #1744)
The President's Healthy Marriage Initiative seeks to prevent the isolation and poverty of welfare mothers by intervening before a pattern of broken relationships and welfare ...
March 30, 2004
Executive Summary: Reducing Domestic Violence: How the Healthy Marriage Initiative Can Help
By Melissa G. Pardue and Robert Rector
(Executive Summary #1744)
Executive Summary: The President's Healthy Marriage Initiative seeks to prevent the isolation and poverty of welfare mothers by intervening before a pattern of broken relationships ...
March 30, 2004
Adolescents Who Take Virginity Pledges Have Lower Rates of Out-of-Wedlock Births
By Kirk A. Johnson
(Center for Data Analysis Report #04-04)
Young women who take a virginity pledge are about 40 percent less likely to have a child out of wedlock than similar young women who ...
March 26, 2004
Understanding the President's Healthy Marriage Initiative
By Robert E. Rector and Melissa G. Pardue
(Backgrounder #1741)
The current welfare system financially penalizes unmarried parents who wish to wed, despite the fact that an increased marriage rate among welfare recipients is both ...
March 26, 2004
Executive Summary: Understanding the President's Healthy Marriage Initiative
By Robert E. Rector and Melissa G. Pardue
(Executive Summary #1741)
Executive Summary: The current welfare system financially penalizes unmarried parents who wish to wed, despite the fact that an increased marriage rate among welfare recipients ...
March 9, 2004
Marriage: Still the Safest Place For Women and Children
By Robert E. Rector, Patrick F. Fagan, and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #1732)
Social science data clearly show that mothers and children are safest and thrive best in a married family. For example, the incidence of spousal, boyfriend, ...
January 28, 2004
What Do Parents Want Taught in Sex Education Programs?
By Robert E. Rector, Melissa G. Pardue, and Shannan Martin
(Backgrounder #1722)
A nationally representative Zogby International poll shows that American parents overwhelmingly, and in some cases almost unanimously, support the themes and messages of abstinence education ...
January 21, 2004
Analyzing the Effects of State Legislation on the Incidence of Abortion During the 1990s
By Michael J. New, Ph.D.
(Center for Data Analysis Report #04-01)
In understanding why the number of legal abortions declined by 17.4 percent between 1990 and 1999, it is significant that, by the end of the ...
January 21, 2004
The Fundamental Institutions: President Bush on Marriage, the Family, and Faith
By Jennifer Marshall, Matthew Spalding, Melissa Pardue, and Joe Loconte
(WebMemo #399)
President Bush, in his third State of the Union address, recognized that the strength of this nation rests on certain fundamental "pillars of civilization"—marriage, the ...
January 14, 2004
Executive Summary: Government Spends $12 on Safe Sex and Contraceptives for Every $1 Spent on Abstinence
By Melissa Pardue, Robert E. Rector, and Shannan Martin
(Executive Summary #1718)
Executive Summary: Given the alarming content of most comprehensive sex-ed programs, and given the current funding imbalance between contraceptive promotion and abstinence programs, any new ...
November 19, 2003
In Defense of Marriage
By Matthew Spalding, Ph.D. and Joseph Loconte
(WebMemo #373)
Marriage is an "an evolving paradigm." So says Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court, in a 4-3 decision that has vast implications for the growing national debate ...
October 20, 2003
The Necessity of Marriage
By The Honorable Rick Santorum
(Heritage Lecture #804)
Marriage is under assault, with high rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births pummeling the traditional family. Given the high stakes for society, it is important ...
August 22, 2003
"Marriage Plus": Sabotaging the President's Efforts to Promote Healthy Marriage
By Robert E. Rector, Melissa G. Pardue, Lauren R. Noyes
(Backgrounder #1677)
Opponents of President Bush's pilot initiative to fund innovative marriage-promotion programs have proposed an alternative strategy termed "marriage plus."
June 26, 2003
The Harmful Effects of Early Sexual Activity and Multiple Sexual Partners Among Women: A Book of Charts
By Robert E. Rector, Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., Lauren R. Noyes, Shannan Martin
(Executive Summary )
This report examines the linkages between early initiation of sexual activity, number of nonmarital sex partners, and human well-being.
June 16, 2003
Why Congress Should Ignore Radical Feminist Opposition to Marriage
By Patrick F. Fagan, Robert E. Rector, and Lauren R. Noyes
(Backgrounder #1662)
Despite demonstrated evidence in every major social policy area of the need to rebuild a strong and healthy culture of marriage, President Bush's new marriage ...
June 16, 2003
Why Congress Should Ignore Radical Feminist Opposition to Marriage
By Patrick F. Fagan, Robert E. Rector, and Lauren R. Noyes
(Executive Summary #1662)
Despite demonstrated evidence in every major social policy area of the need to rebuild a strong and healthy culture of marriage, President Bush's new marriage ...
June 3, 2003
Sexually Active Teenagers Are More Likely to Be Depressed and to Attempt Suicide
By Robert E. Rector, Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., and Lauren R. Noyes
(Center for Data Analysis Report #03-04)
Sexually Active Teenagers Are More Likely to Be Depressed
May 20, 2003
Increasing Marriage Would Dramatically Reduce Child Poverty
By Robert E. Rector, Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., Patrick F. Fagan, and Lauren R. Noyes
(Center for Data Analysis Report #03-06)
In 2001, 1.35 million children were born outside marriage. This represents 33.5 percent of all children born in the United States in that year. Children ...
May 2, 2003
Increased Abstinence Causes a Large Drop in Teen Pregnancy
By Melissa G. Pardue
(Executive Memorandum #872)
Abstinence programs, endorsed by President Bush and many in Congress, have long been advocated as effective in reducing sexual activity and out-of-wedlock childbearing rates among ...
January 29, 2003
The Role of Parental Work in Child Poverty
By Robert E. Rector and Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(Center for Data Analysis Report #03-01)
The analysis presented in this paper indicates that child poverty is more often the result of low levels of parental work than of parents' low ...
August 23, 2002
Why Congress Should Reject the Failed Sex-Education Agenda in the Baucus Bill
By Jennifer Garrett
(Backgrounder #1576)
Bush has endorsed abstinence education as an effective means of reducing early sexual activity, providing a foundation for personal responsibility, and enduring marital commitment. Washington ...
August 2, 2002
The Effects of Marriage and Maternal Education in Reducing Child Poverty
By Robert Rector and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
(Center for Data Analysis Report #02-05)
Both marriage and maternal education can play a significant role in reducing child poverty. The most effective public policy to reduce child poverty would encourage ...
June 13, 2002
Restoring a Culture of Marriage: Good News for Policymakers from the Fragile Families Survey
By Patrick F. Fagan and Jennifer Garrett
(Backgrounder #1560)
It is time for Congress to implement policies and programs that would help such couples make a permanent commitment to each other and their children, ...
April 15, 2002
The Effect of Marriage on Child Poverty
By Robert Rector, Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., and Patrick F. Fagan
(Center for Data Analysis Report #02-04)
The lack of progress in reducing child poverty since 1965 can be explained in part by the erosion of marriage and the growth of poverty-prone ...
April 10, 2002
Marriage: The Safest Place for Women and Children
By Patrick F. Fagan and Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #1535)
Social science data clearly show that mothers and children are safest and thrive best in a married family. It is time for the government to ...
April 8, 2002
The Effectiveness of Abstinence Education Programs in Reducing Sexual Activity Among Youth
By Robert E. Rector
(Backgrounder #1533)
Real abstinence education is essential to reducing out-of-wedlock childbearing, preventing sexually transmitted diseases, and improving emotional and physical well-being among the nation's youth.
March 22, 2002
Let Them Eat Their Words ? Marriage Reduces Poverty
By Jennifer Garrett
(WebMemo #88)
Welfare reform's priorities should be the reduction of dependency and poverty through work and marriage. We must face the impact of deteriorating marriage forthrightly. There ...
February 25, 2002
Why is it in the Government's Interest to Save Marriages?
By Michael J. McManus
(WebMemo #80)
Why it is in the government's interest to save marriages.
October 23, 2001
Perception Correction for Congress: New Study Indicates Poor Parents Want to Marry
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Backgrounder #1497)
Combined with prior evidence that marriage is the best environment within which to raise healthy, well-adjusted children, these findings should motivate Members of Congress and ...
August 2, 2001
CAPTA Successes and Failures at Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Testimony )
We do know that rates of abuse for children are lowest in intact married families. We know that abuse is highest when mother cohabits with ...
March 26, 2001
Encouraging Marriage and Discouraging Divorce
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Executive Summary #1421)
Encouraging Marriage and Discouraging Divorce
March 26, 2001
Encouraging Marriage and Discouraging Divorce
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Backgrounder #1421)
Together, public- and private-sector leadership can join with the clergy begin this process, increasing the incidence of marriage and strengthening families while reducing the social ...
March 26, 2001
Estimulando El Matrimonio y Desalentando El Divorcio
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Backgrounder #1421)
Estimulando El Matrimonio y Desalentando El Divorcio
March 21, 2001
Family and Faith: The Roots of Prosperity, Stability and Freedom
By Patrick F. Fagan
(WebMemo #1)
The challenge for America in this new century is not to improve the economy, but to strengthen the family and faith in God.
February 5, 2001
How U.N. Conventions On Women's and Children's Rights Undermine Family, Religion, and Sovereignty: Supplemental Material: Quotations from CRC and CEDAW Committees of the United Nations
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Backgrounder #1409quotes)
Quotations from CRC and CEDAW Committees of the United Nations.
September 27, 2000
Making Marriage Matter
By The Honorable Frank Keating
(Heritage Lecture #684)
There are issues of the heart and of the head that have to be resolved in forums other than government forums.
June 5, 2000
The Effects of Divorce on America
By Patrick F. Fagan and Robert E. Rector
(Backgrounder #1373)
The foundation of society (marriage and the family) is growing weaker, with fewer adults entering into marriage, more adults leaving it in divorce, and more ...
April 14, 2000
A Year after Columbine: How do we Heal a Wounded Culture?
By The Honorable Bill Owens
(Heritage Lecture #662)
Does our culture truly celebrate and teach the values that made America the greatest nation on earth, or is our culture itself slowly eating away ...
February 8, 2000
Who Pays the Marriage Penalty? New Estimates by Congressional District and State
By William W. Beach and Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(Center for Data Analysis Report #00-02)
Not only does this feature of the tax system stand as a likely obstacle to marriage, it can actually discourage a spouse from entering the ...
July 30, 1999
How Special Interests Would Kill Day Care Choice
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Executive Memorandum #615)
Congress is poised to take the first step toward creating a new federal bureaucracy to regulate the provision of day care in the United States. ...
July 27, 1999
Rescuing Abused Children: Can Congress Help Our Kids?
By Tom DeLay
(Heritage Lecture #642)
The simple fact is that child welfare has been a one-party issue for too long.
June 11, 1999
How Broken Families Rob Children of Their Chances for Future Prosperity
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Executive Summary #1283)
BG1283ES: How Broken Families Rob Children of Their Chances for Future Prosperity
June 11, 1999
How Broken Families Rob Children of Their Chances for Future Prosperity
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Backgrounder #1283)
Whether or not a child's parents are married and stay married has a massive affect on his or her future prosperity and that of the ...
January 14, 1998
The Clinton Day Care Proposal: An Attack on Parents and Children
By Robert E. Rector and Patrick F. Fagan
(Executive Memorandum #506)
The Clinton Day Care Proposal: An Attack on Parents and Children
May 15, 1997
The Child Abuse Crisis: The Disintegration of Marriage, Family, and the American Community
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Backgrounder #1115)
The underlying dynamic of child abuse--the breakdown of marriage and the commitment to love--is spreading like a cancer in our society.
April 23, 1997
It Takes A Family: The Adoption Promotion Act of 1997
By Patrick F. Fagan and Dorothy B. Hanks
(Executive Memorandum #477)
The Adoption Promotion Act addresses many of the deeply ingrained problems of the current foster care system.
May 20, 1996
How to Improve the Quality of Children's Television
By Adam Thierer
(Executive Memorandum #450)
Intense rivalry for viewer allegiance, not more federal mandates, is the only way to improve the quality and amount of children's programming.
May 6, 1996
Promoting Adoption Reform: Congress Can Give Children Another Chance
By Patrick F. Fagan
(Backgrounder #1080)
BG1080: Promoting Adoption Reform: Congress Can Give Children Another Chance
October 19, 1995
Homer, Shakespeare, and Tolstoy: What Literature Teaches About the Collapse and Recovery of Home and Family
By David Patterson
(Heritage Lecture #545)
Without the home, everything else in the world or in a culture is meaningless.
August 31, 1995
Combatting Illegitimacy and Counseling Teen Abstinence: A Key Component of Welfare Reform
By Joseph J. Piccione and Robert A. Scholle
(Backgrounder #1051)
Policymakers should promote reforms that encourage personal responsibility; only this can rescue another generation from dependency.
April 16, 1994
A Strategy for Transforming America's Culture
By Dr. William J. Bennett
(Heritage Lecture #489)
The survival of our republic depends on transforming America's culture.
July 23, 1991
Children and Family in America: Challenges for the 1990s
By Wade F. Horn, Ph.D.
(Heritage Lecture #345)
The truth is that most children are doing quite well, however we must not forget those who are not as fortunate.
March 29, 1991
Federal Support for Early Childhood Programs: Caution is Needed
By Robert H. Knight
(Backgrounder #821)
The federal government is greatly increasing its efforts to take very young children out of their homes and put them, for part of the day ...
August 22, 1990
Washington's Continuing Fiction: A National Housing Shortage
By Carl F. Horowitz, PhD.
(Backgrounder #783)
By every reasonable set of indicators -- demand, supply, and market -- America is not suffering a national housing shortage.
August 1, 2008