The erosion of marriage throughout the past four decades has had large-scale negative effects on both children and adults and lies at the heart of many social problems with which government currently grapples. The beneficial effects of marriage on individuals and society are beyond reasonable dispute, and there is a broad and growing consensus that government policy should promote rather than discourage healthy marriage.
Analysis of poverty in the USA: poor children rarely hungry; poor often have cable TV, air conditioning, a computer, and larger homes than non-poor Europeans.