Hearing of House Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Human Resources, held May 22, 2001

This statement was submitted for publication in the official record of the hearing.

As a national organization for unmarried people, we believe that the use of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds to promote marriage and discourage "illegitimacy" is not in the best interests of Americans who live in poverty.

One family form is marriage, and we agree that marriage should be supported. We believe, however, that a marriage-promoting agenda does real damage in a nation whose strength is rooted in diversity and tolerance. We believe that the well-being of children is critical to our nation's future, and that to that end, all families should be valued and all committed relationships supported. We do not believe it is possible for public policy to promote marriage without simultaneously stigmatizing people who are divorced, withholding resources from single parents, shaming unmarried couples, and ignoring the needs of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people for whom marriage is not an option. Such policies disadvantage the children growing up in such families, and deepen social inequality.

The American family is indeed in profound transition. Although divorce rates have receded from their 1981 peak, marriage is not gaining ground. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of families maintained by women without legally married partners in the home increased three times faster than did married-couple families. "Cohabitation is the fastest-growing living arrangement in modern society," observes Johns Hopkins sociologist Andrew Cherlin. It is far from a childless state; scholars Larry Bumpass and Hsien Hen Lu of the University of Wisconsin note that, "a large share of children born to supposedly 'single' mothers today are born into two-parent households." These mothers are legally single, but are living and parenting together with an unmarried partner.

Although much of the testimony delivered at your subcommittee meeting paints a bleak portrait of these families, in reality there are millions of happy, healthy, unmarried families whose members are neither "illegitimate" nor a threat to the social fiber of our country. The notion that somehow compelling them to marry as a social cure-all is simplistic and unrealistic. Longer lifespans, the economic independence of women, and later ages at marriage have all contributed to reducing the importance of marriage in everyday life. This is true in nearly every industrial nation, not just the United States.

"Under these circumstances, putting all our eggs in the leaky basket of a campaign to reinstitutionalize marriage is a risky strategy and may even backfire," writes family historian Stephanie Coontz in Newsday (5/27/01, page B8). Abundant research shows that the children of teen moms who marry the father after birth often do worse than those whose marital status remains unchanged, probably because the basis for the marriage is not a sound one. Researchers overwhelming agree that high-conflict marriages can do more damage to children than divorce. Promoting marriage is an appealing quick fix that ignores the deep complexity of family quality and process, which turns out to be far more important to children's well-being than family form.

The real question here is what do real-world American families need in order to thrive? We believe that the first item on the agenda should be to reduce the economic stresses that contribute far more than any other factor to family instability. Consider the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), which allowed parents on welfare to continue to collect benefits as long as their earnings did not go over 40% of the poverty threshold, or about $18,200 for a family of three. An unexpected outcome of the pilot program was that MFIP clients were more likely to get and remain married than people enrolled in the standard welfare system. One place to start is with the minimum wage, currently averaging $5.15 per hour, or $10,712 per year. According to the Department of Labor, if minimum wage had kept up with inflation over the last thirty years, it would be $7.80 an hour today. We encourage the Ways and Means Committee to promote an hourly wage or annual income that enables an individual to meet his or her family's basic needs.

Helping adults become gainfully employed is another legitimate way to foster stable two-parent households. Not surprisingly, women are three times as likely to want to marry the father of their child if he holds a job. Job-training programs, affordable quality child care, health care, transportation and paid parental leave are all crucial ingredients of a stable family life. Higher drop-out rates and more health problems among children are the negative effects of poverty, not marital status.

In addition to a living wage and basic benefits, we believe that other laws and policies should be available to the full range of American families. These include domestic partner benefits, family and medical leave, hospital visitation rights, and survivors' benefits. Like public assistance, health care and benefits should not be contingent on one's relationship status, marital status, or sexual orientation. Although such policy changes will take time to effect, they are essential if TANF block grant requirements are to address the heart of economic and social injustice.

Given today's diversity of family forms, it is morally problematic and logistically difficult to restrict social and economic support to families headed by married couples. It ignores the forces of history and the complex reality of American family life, and it penalizes those who most need the assistance of fair and enlightened government policies.

Ultimately, diverting welfare money to programs that promote marriage denies basic services to millions of American children. Programs to promote marriage disregard the fact that marriage is not always the best choice, and may actually do harm, especially to women who are experiencing domestic violence. We hope the committee shares our support of principles that work toward creating healthy, loving relationships and families for all people, married and unmarried.

The Alternatives to Marriage Project (www.unmarried.org) is a national organization for unmarried people, including people who choose not to marry, cannot marry, or live together before marriage. We work for greater understanding and acceptance of unmarried people.