CHILD TRAGEDIES: MISSING MARRIAGE
By W. BRADFORD WILCOX
Printed in the New York Post,
February 8, 2006
SEVEN shocking child deaths in the last
four months: Liyah Atkinson, Quachaun Browne, Nixzmary Brown,
Josiah Bunch, Dahquay Gillians, Sierra Roberts, Michael Segarra.
This staggering death toll from abuse or neglect has focused
justifiable attention on malfeasance at the city's Administration
for Children's Services. But another thread tragically links
these kids: All were living outside of an intact, married family.
Four-year-old Quachaun Browne died at the
hands of his mother's controlling, 18-year-old live-in boyfriend.
One-year-old baby Josiah Bunch also appears to have died at
the hands of a mother's boyfriend. Nixzmary Brown, 7, was beaten
to death by her domineering step-father. Three infants, Liyah
Atkinson, Dahquay Gillians, and Michael Segarra, died in the
custody of their unmarried mothers, apparently by accident.
Sierra Roberts, 7, was killed when her single father lost his
temper. And so it goes.
For all the heartbreaking media coverage,
almost no stories have mentioned that children are much more
likely to die outside of an intact, married home than they are
to die inside an intact, married home.
Consider the empirical evidence. A recent
study in the journal Pediatrics found that preschool children
in homes with an unrelated adult were nearly 50 times as likely
to die because of physical abuse, compared to children in intact,
married homes.
In a recent report, "Why
Marriage Matters: 26 Conclusions from the Social Sciences,"
an interdisciplinary team of 16 family scholars that I chaired
found that children in single-parent homes are almost twice
as likely to be sexually abused, compared to children in intact,
married families.
We also found that children living with
stepparents (usually a stepfather) are more than 40 times as
likely to be killed or sexually abused, compared to children
living in an intact, married family.
Bottom line: Children are much more likely
to be abused or neglected in a single-parent, cohabiting or
stepfamily situation than they are in an intact, married family.
Why? Biology is important. As sociologists
Sara McLanahan of Princeton and Gary Sandefur of Wisconsin observe,
"The fact that both parents have a biological connection
to the child" increases the chance that both parents identify
with and invest in the child, thereby reducing "the likelihood
that either parent would abuse the child."
So is marriage. Married parents have enduring
legal, moral and social ties to each other and to their children.
Such ties increase the likelihood that each parent will monitor
and support the other's parenting. So, for instance, when mom
is at the end of her rope with her kids, a married dad can step
in and take over. A single mother doesn't have that option,
and a mom's live-in boyfriend isn't likely to be a conscientious
caretaker; indeed, boyfriends often distract mothers from their
parental responsibilities.
Marriage also changes men for the better.
Married fathers work harder and smarter than cohabiting or nonresidential
fathers. They also share more of their income with their families,
which helps to explain why families headed by married couples
are less likely to be poor. Married fathers also drink less
and attend church more than unmarried fathers.
All this translates into much lower levels
of abuse and neglect among intact, married families. So, if
New Yorkers hope to put an end to these horrific deaths, we
need to look beyond ACS and toward the state of marriage and
family life. Among other things, 45 percent of all children
in New York are born outside of marriage.
To be sure, family breakdown is not the
only factor fueling child abuse and neglect. Poverty and substance
abuse also play key roles. But poverty and substance abuse are
also more common outside of intact marriages.
New York's tragic child death toll is unlikely
to come to a halt until New Yorkers, and the public and private
institutions that influence families, do a better job of ensuring
that the city's children grow up in the care of their own two,
married parents.
W. Bradford Wilcox, a resident fellow
at the Institute for American Values and an assistant professor
of sociology at the University of Virginia, lives with his wife
and three children in New York City.
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