Today, more kids grow up in single-parent homes in America than in any other country in the world. No wonder we’re flailing and falling behind in so many ways. Strong marriages build strong families and strong societies. Humans were created with a desire to love and permanently connect and procreate within the institution of marriage. We should still encourage that as a society, especially because it’s an even healthier partnership than before. 

It’s no surprise that marriage matters for the well-being of children, but a new report from the Institute for Family Studies finds that it matters now more than ever before. 

A study comparing intact and broken families between two generations—boomers and millennials—found that the correlation between two-parent families and life success has dramatically increased with millennials. 

For example, growing up with an intact family increases millennials’ odds of graduating from college by 163 percent, compared to just 78 percent for boomers. And 77 percent of millennials from intact families achieve middle or higher income by their mid-30s—a figure that is 20 percentage points higher than for their peers from non-intact families. 

Children’s financial, social, and emotional welfare is on the line when it comes to marriage, and it’s worth Americans of all political stripes taking note. Thankfully, some progressive academics are getting on board. 

“Denying that marriage has major consequences for the economic and social well-being of individuals and society is dishonest and counterproductive, especially when it comes to how children are being raised,” wrote Melissa Kearney, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of The Two-Parent Privilege.  

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