Marriage Breakdown Costs Taxpayers at Least $112 Billion a Year - 4/15/08

[Smartmarriages]

- MARRIAGE DAY IN WASHINGTON
- VIDEO PRESS CONFERENCE AVAILABLE
- TAXPAYER COSTS OF DIVORCE STUDY RELEASED

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- MARRIAGE DAY IN WASHINGTON

Many Coalition members spent a momentous day at a series of events anchored
by the release of the new study on the Taxpayer Costs of Divorce.  The day
began with a press conference at the National Press Club; included a Awards
Luncheon that honored Truett Cathy, founder & CEO of Chick-fil-A and the
WinShape Marriage CoMission. Mr Cathy was the recipient today of the
President's Volunteer Service Award. The day concluded with a White House
Roundtable on Marriage at which Wade Horn was the opening speaker and panel
presenters included Maggie Gallagher, Ron Haskins, Julie Baumgardner,
Carolyn Curtis, and Francesca Adler-Bader.  - diane

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- TAXPAYER COSTS OF DIVORCE STUDY RELEASED

Marriage Breakdown Costs Taxpayers at Least $112 Billion a Year

First-Time Research Reveals Staggering Annual Taxpayer Costs for Divorce and
Unwed Childbearing

WASH. D.C.  In first-ever research, a new report quantifies a minimum $112
billion annual taxpayer cost from high rates of divorce and unmarried
childbearing. It identifies national, state and local costs which account
for more than $1 trillion in the last decade.  This landmark scholarly
study, entitled "The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing:
First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and All 50 States," was released on
April 15th at the National Press Club by four renown policy and research
groups-Institute for American Values, Georgia Family Council, Institute for
Marriage and Public Policy, and Families Northwest.

"This study documents for the first time, that divorce and unwed
childbearing-besides being bad for children-are also costing taxpayers a ton
of money," said David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American
Values.  "Even a small improvement in the health of marriage in America
would result in enormous savings to taxpayers," he continued. "For example,
a 1 percent reduction in rates of family fragmentation would save taxpayers
$1.1 billion."

 "These costs are due to increased taxpayer expenditures for anti-poverty,
criminal justice and education programs, and through lower levels of taxes
paid by individuals whose adult productivity has been negatively affected by
increased childhood poverty caused by family fragmentation," said principal
investigator Ben Scafidi, Ph.D., economics professor at Georgia College &
State University. 

"Prior research shows that marriage lifts single mothers out of poverty and
therefore reduces the need for costly social benefits," said Scafidi. "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."

"This report now provides the basis for a national consensus that
strengthening marriage is a legitimate policy concern," said Blankenhorn.
"The report's numbers represent an extremely cautious estimate, a
lower-bound figure, and have been vetted by a group of distinguished
scholars and economists who have attached their names as advisors to this
report."

 "These numbers represent real people and real suffering," said Randy Hicks,
president of Georgia Family Council. "Both economic and human costs make
family fragmentation a legitimate public concern. Historically, Americans
have resisted the impulse to surrender to negative and hurtful trends. We
fight problems like racism, poverty and domestic violence because we
understand that the stakes are high. And while we'll never eliminate divorce
and unwed childbearing entirely, we can certainly be doing more to help
marriages and families succeed."

- VIDEO PRESS CONFERENCE AVAILABLE
The full report, press kit, and video of the press conference at the
National Press Club is available at http://www.americanvalues.org.

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