Marriage & Poverty: Ohio

Marriage:Ohio’s No. 1 Weapon

AgainstChildhood Poverty

How the Collapse of Marriage Hurts Childrenand Three Steps to Reverse the Damage

A Heritage Foundation Book of Charts • January 2012

Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society

Growth of Unwed Childbearing in Ohio, 1929–2010

PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK Throughout most of Ohio history, out-of-wedlock childbear-ing was rare. In 1964, after the federal government began the War on Poverty, only 6.1 percent of children in Ohio were born out-side marriage. However, over the next five decades, the number rose rapidly. By 2010, 56.2 percent of births in Ohio occurred outside of marriage.

Note: Data on non-marital births in Ohio are unavailable from 1969 to 1979. However, all states that do have data for this period show a rapid growth in non-marital childbearing from the mid-1960s on. The Ohio trend during this period undoubtedly parallels the national trend shown in the chart.

Sources: U.S. Government, U.S. Census Bureau, and National Center for Health Statistics.

heritage.orgChart 1 • Marriage and Poverty in Ohio

1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

43.8%

40.8%Ohio

National

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

National

Ohio

In Ohio, Marriage Drops the Probability of Child Poverty by 86 Percent

The rapid rise in out-of-wedlock childbearing is a major cause of high levels of child poverty in Ohio.

Some 41.8 percent of single mothers with children were poor compared to 5.7 percent of mar-ried couples with children.

Single-parent families with children are more than seven times more likely to be poor than families in which the parents are married.

The higher poverty rate among single-mother families is due both to the lower education levels of the mothers and the lower income due to the absence of the father.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007–2009 data.


PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN THAT ARE POOR

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Single-Parent, Female-Headed

Families

Married, Two-Parent Families

41.8%

5.7%

One-Third of All Families with Children in Ohio Are Not Married

Overall, married couples head about two-thirds of families with children in Ohio. More than one-third are single-parent families.



Unmarried Families

Married Families

35.2%

64.6%

In Ohio, 78 Percent of Poor Families with Children Are Not Married

Among poor families with children in Ohio, nearly four in five are not married. By contrast, only one-fifth of poor families with children are headed by married couples.



Unmarried Families

Married Families21.8%

78.2%

In Ohio, Few Unwed Births Occur to Teenagers

Out-of-wedlock births are often confused erroneously with teen births, but only 7.4 percent of out-of-wedlock births in Ohio occur to girls under age 18.

By contrast, some 79 percent of out-of-wedlock births occur to young adult women between the ages of 18 and 29.

Note: Figures have been rounded.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008 NHS data.


PERCENTAGE OF OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHS BY AGE OF MOTHER

Age18–19:14.5%

Age20–24:37.1%

Age25–29:23.0%

Age30–54:17.7%

UnderAge 18:7.7%

Less-Educated Women in Ohio Are More Likely to Give Birth Outside Marriage

Unwed childbearing occurs most frequently among women who will have the greatest diffi-culty supporting children by themselves: those with low levels of education.

In Ohio, among women who are high school dropouts, about 73.5 percent of all births occur outside marriage. Among women who have only a high school diploma, three in five births occur outside marriage. By contrast, among women with at least a college degree, only 6.7 percent of births are out of wedlock.



PERCENTAGE OF BIRTHS THAT ARE MARITAL OR OUT OF WEDLOCK

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

High School Dropout

(0–11Years)

High School Graduate

(12Years)

SomeCollege(13–15Years)

College Graduate

(16+Years)

73.5%

59.9%

41.7%

6.7%

26.5%

40.1%

58.3%

93.3%

Mother’s education level

Unmarried Mothers

Married Mothers

Both Marriage and Education Are Highly Effective in Reducing Child Poverty in Ohio

The poverty rate of married couples with children is dramati-cally lower than the rate for households headed by single parents. This is true even when the married couple is compared to single parents with the same edu-cation level.

For example, in Ohio, the pov-erty rate for a single mother who has only a high school diploma is 40.3 percent, but the poverty rate for a married couple family headed by an individual who, similarly, has only a high school degree is far lower at 7.7 percent.

On average, marriage drops the poverty rate by around 80 percent among families with the same education level.



0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

High School Dropout

High School Graduate

SomeCollege

College Graduate

68.1%

24.2%

40.3%

7.7%

32.8%

4.4%

11.9%

1.6%

Note: Virtually none of the heads of families in the chart who are high school dropouts are minor teenagers.

PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN THAT ARE POOR

Poverty Rate of Families by Education and Marital Status of the Head of Household

Single Married

Unwed Birth Rates Vary Strongly by Race in Ohio

Out-of-wedlock childbearing varies considerably by race.

In 2008 (the most recent year for which racial breakdown is available), 43.4 percent of births in Ohio occurred outside marriage. The rate was lowest among non-Hispanic whites: about one in three births to white in this groups (35.5 percent) were non-marital.

Among Hispanics, six in ten (59.5 percent) births were out-of-wedlock. Among blacks, nearly eight in ten births (79.1 percent) were to unmarried women.



PERCENT OF BIRTHS THAT ARE OUT OF WEDLOCK

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

All Races White Non-

Hispanic

Hispanic BlackNon-

Hispanic

43.4%

35.5%

59.5%

79.1%

8.3%

Growth of Unwed Childbearing by Race in Ohio, 1934–2008

PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN BORN OUT OF WEDLOCKHistorically, out-of-wedlock childbearing has been somewhat more frequent among blacks than among whites. However, prior to the onset of the federal government’s War on Poverty in the 1960s, the rates for both whites and blacks were compara-tively low.

In 1964, 3.6 percent of white children in Ohio were born out-side marriage. By 2008, the number had risen to one in three (35.5 percent).

In 1964, more than one in four (26.9 percent) black children in Ohio were born outside marriage. By 2008, that number had risen to about eight in ten (79.1 percent).

Sources: U.S. Government, U.S. Census Bureau, and National Center for Health Statistics.


1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2008

Ohio–White35.5%

National–White28.6%

Ohio–Black79.1%

National–Black72.3%

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10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Racial Composition of All Births and Out-of-Wedlock Births in Ohio

ALL BIRTHS OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHSIn Ohio in 2008, some 75.9 percent of all births occurred to non-Hispanic whites, 16.3 percent occurred to non-Hispanic blacks, and 4.6 percent occurred to His-panics.

Because blacks and Hispanics are more likely to have children without being married, they account for disproportionately larger shares of all out-of-wedlock births. Even so, the largest number of unwed births are to white non-Hispanic women.

In Ohio in 2008, 62.2 percent of all non-marital births were to non-Hispanic white women, 29.7 percent were to black non-Hispanic women, and 6.4 percent were to Hispanic women.



Note: Figures have been rounded.

75.9% White Non-Hispanic

Asian/Other

Black Non-Hispanic

Hispanic16.3%

4.6%

3.2%

62.2%

29.7%

6.4%

1.7%

Non-Married White Families Are Eight Times More Likely to Be Poor in Ohio

Marriage leads to lower poverty rates for whites, blacks, and His-panics.

For example, in 2009, the pov-erty rate for married white families in Ohio was 3.4 percent. But the poverty rate for non-married white families was eight times higher at 27.5 percent.



PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES THAT ARE POOR

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Married Families Non-Married Families

3.4%

27.5%

Non-Married Black Families Are Nearly Five Times More Likely to Be Poor in Ohio

In 2009, the poverty rate for married black couples in Ohio was 7.9 percent, while the poverty rate for non-married black families was more than five times higher at 42.8 percent.




0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%


7.9%

42.8%

Non-Married Hispanic Families Are Five Times More Likely to Be Poor in Ohio

In 2009, the poverty rate for Hispanic married families in Ohio was 11.6 percent, while the pov-erty rate among non-married families was four times higher at 45.2 percent.




0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%


11.6%

45.2%

Three Steps to Reduce Child Poverty through Marriage

1) Provide information on the benefits of marriage in reducing child poverty and improving child well-being.

2) Reduce anti-marriage penalties in means-tested welfare programs.

3) Promote life-goal-planning, marriage-strengthening, and divorce-reduction programs to increase healthy marriages and reduce divorce and separation.

Marriage is a highly effective institution which greatly decreases parental and child poverty while improving long-term outcomes for children. Conversely, the absence of marriage greatly increases welfare costs and imposes added burdens on taxpayers.

Unfortunately, almost no information on these topics is available in low-income communities. This information deficit should be corrected in the following manner:

• Explain the benefits of marriage in middle and high schools with a high proportion of at-risk youth;

• Create public education campaigns in low-income communities on the benefits of marriage; and,

• Require federally funded birth control clinics to provide information on the benefits of marriage and the skills needed to develop stable families to interested low-income clients.

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Marriage & Poverty: Ohio