| Growth of Marriage Promotion Industry is Based on Political Ties, not Anti-Poverty Results |
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For Immediate Release
Growth of Marriage
Promotion Industry is Based on Political Ties, not Anti-Poverty Results
Today, the Alternatives to Marriage Project
(AtMP) re-released Let Them Eat Wedding Rings, its acclaimed
critique of government-funded marriage programs. The first edition
of Let Them Eat Wedding Rings was published in early 2002; it
has been cited by media and used in college classrooms around the country.
The 2007 edition is fully updated and revised. New features include:
In the five years since AtMP first published Let Them Eat Wedding Rings, government-funded marriage programs have grown explosively. Compared to the late 1990s, government officials play down their desire to convert the unmarried to marriage and the purported link between marrying and leaving poverty. However, influential non-governmental commentators avidly tout marriage as better for children and as a solution to the increasingly visible problem of economic inequality. Therefore, as observers who care deeply about fairness for all families, AtMP today renews its call for the critical evaluation of government-funded marriage programs based on these three principles: 1. The purpose of welfare is to reduce poverty. 2. Individuals and families should be treated fairly regardless of their marital status.
3. Policies designed to help children
should support all the types of families in which children really live.
Nicky Grist, AtMP’s Executive Director,
says “Our elected officials are sponsoring a marriage-only perspective
that ignores the reality of the majority of American households.
They are callously ignoring the fact that marital status discrimination
causes real hardships for unmarried people. Unmarried people are
an important voting bloc and must hold politicians accountable.” |
