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Family Breakdowns: Is the church to blame?

Posted by: Kaylan Christopher on June 4, 2008   Biblical Values •

Baptist Press published an interesting story last week titled: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=27992>“Family breakdown costs $112 billion.” If you haven’t read this story and still don’t know exactly what I’m referring to, let me give you a synopsis of what has been uncovered.

The story stated, “High rates of divorce and unmarried childbearing costs U.S. taxpayers at least $112 billion each year, making marriage enrichment a legitimate policy concern, a first-of-its-kind study sponsored by four public policy and research groups said.”

Basically, taxpayers are paying for anti-poverty, criminal justice, and education programs, and for those who have been negatively affected by divorce or by being an unwed parent.

In the article written by Erin Roach, Ben Scafidi, lead researcher and economics professor at Georgia College & State University, is quoted as saying, “Prior research shows that marriage lifts single mothers out of poverty and therefore reduces the need for costly social benefits. This new report shows that public concern about the decline of marriage need not be based only on ‘moral’ concerns, but that reducing high taxpayer costs of family fragmentation is a legitimate concern of government, policymakers and legislators, as well as community reformers and faith communities.”

Are the high prices we have to pay because of our fault? Or is it the government’s fault for not putting enough priority in this area?

The BP News story said, “Public officials for years have given little attention to trends of divorce and out of wedlock births, dismissing them as social problems, the researchers said, but the study suggests marriage is more than a moral or social institution—it is an economic institution as a generator of social and human capital.”

Aside from the proposed “marriage enrichment” seminars to encourage healthy marriages, what are other ways the church can reach out to single parents—those who are victims of divorce and those who had children out of wedlock? Can the church do better job educating and counseling couples before they “tie the knot”? How better can we impact our culture with the message of hope and importance of family than what we’ve already established?

The most important question may be: Have we overlooked this area of concern to the point where it has become accepted in our culture as a way of life? If so, how do we fix it? Is it a church issue or a government issue?

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