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INTRODUCTION
Policymakers at last are coming to recognize the connection
between the breakdown of American families and various social
problems. The unfolding debate over welfare reform, for instance,
has been shaped by the wide acceptance in recent years that
children born into single-parent families are much more likely than
children of intact families to fall into poverty and welfare
dependence themselves in later years. These children, in fact, face
a daunting array of problems.
While this link between illegitimacy and chronic welfare
dependency now is better understood, policymakers also need to
appreciate another strong and disturbing pattern evident in