I see a major roadblock to creating more Millionaire households – the slow destruction of the two-parent family. Today, 25% of white households, 50% of Hispanic households, and 75% of black households are headed, by single mothers.  What does this have to do with prosperity?  Poverty rates in female-headed families now hover around 40 percent,” Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution recently wrote. “By contrast, children living in married-couple families have poverty rates that have been as low as 7 percent in recent years.”

Children with two supportive, loving, and caring parents will do better in school and life for the simple reasons, they receive double the support. Their parents have more money to invest in education and tools, such as computers, classes, etc. More children from two-parent households seek higher education. And they will graduate with smaller college loans.

 

{Text of Obama’s fatherhood speech-Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, June 2008}

“Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most important. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation. They are teachers and coaches. They are mentors and role models. They are examples of success and the men who constantly push us toward it……
We know that more than half of all black children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled — doubled — since we were children. We know the statistics — that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit a crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it….

I know what it means to have an absent father, although my circumstances weren’t as tough as they are for many young people today. Even though my father left us when I was 2 years old, and I only knew him from the letters he wrote and the stories that my family told, I was luckier than most…. I know the toll that being a single parent took on my mother — how she struggled at times to pay bills; to give us the things that other kids had; to play all the roles that both parents are supposed to play. And I know the toll it took on me. So I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle — that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my girls; that if I could give them anything, I would give them that rock — that foundation — on which to build their lives. And that would be the greatest gift I could offer.”

 

Actions in education, economics, incarceration, are NOT going to solve this problem. There is too little communication or action, on this subject. Federal, state, and local governments, will NOT address this issue. It is up to our communities, our places of worship, and you, to make a difference.

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DISCLAIMER

I am a proud nerd (as my beautiful wife and daughter have told me) investment and finance blogger, with a NC State, Chemical Engineering, University Rutgers, MBA and Harvard University, Advanced Management education.  

I started my first business at ~13 years of age. I am a successful investor in equities and real estate and happy to share my personal finance and investment lessons learned with you. However, I am NOT a licensed financial advisor.  Please do not construe my suggestions on this blog, as recommendations for your personal situation.  For individual finance advice please seek your own licensed CPA or financial advisors.