Family Values: Red or Blue? tagged: ,

Family Values: Red or Blue?

Posted by in News & Culture

In a new book ("Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture") authors Naomi Cahn and June Carbone argue that blue state culture and values produce more stable families than those from the more conservative red states.  Their argument is that more liberal social policies, including easier access to abortion and birth control lead to more stable families.

Ms. Cahn stated (in an interview with Neal Conan on NPR’s Talk of the Nation):

“We’re saying that in the current information economy, where there is a premium if you look at where the jobs are, job increases over the past several decades have occurred in the most highly skilled occupations, as well as in very low-skilled occupations, and people in the middle are being left out.

So if you look at what it is that is driving the new economy and what’s going to maximize people’s chances, it’s going to be getting a good education”

Stable families appear to be defined in terms of a low divorce rate.  People who marry at a later age and have a stable, higher than average income tend to have fewer divorces.  Cahn and Carbone believe people with a more liberal view of sex and cohabitation, combined with easier access and greater social acceptance of birth control and abortion are  the ones most likely to put off marriage until they are older and more established.

Red state values (read: conservatives in the bible belt) are more likely to marry young (so they can have socially acceptable sex) thus increasing the likelihood they will drop out of school and never attain the necessary skills to have a good paying job and thereby increasing the chances of divorce.  Unstable families – so the argument goes – are therefore the logical consequence of traditional Christian values.

Ordinarily I dismiss this kind of drivel.  In this case I find myself agreeing with the diagnosis even if I believe the intervention is awry.

Divorce rates among Evangelicals are nearly identical to the divorce rates of non-Christians.  That’s a problem. 

If it’s true (and I believe it is – social science research is pretty clear on this point) that youth, poverty, and ignorance lead to a greater likelihood of divorce, then we in the church need to look at how we are preparing our adolescents for adulthood.

One solution is to encourage younger marriages.  The average age of marriage in this country is 28 for males and 25 for females.  Assuming a sexual awakening at around age 15, then we are asking young Christian adults to fight against their hormones for 10 to 15 years.  That is a long and difficult battle.

(Note: When social scientists refer to “young” marriages they are inevitably referencing teenagers who are still in high school.)

Creating a culture where young adults are expected to find a spouse by age 22 or 23 creates its own set of problems.  They may have their education behind them and they may be closer to being financially independent, but they are likely to need mentoring in order to become more emotionally and spiritually mature. 

The problem is real: we in the church don’t do marriage much better than those outside the church.  The solution is marriage mentoring and changing expectations, not cohabitation and a loosening of sexual values.