What happens when low marriage rates plague entire communities? Marriage deserts appear.
According to Brad Wilcox and Chris Bullivant, marriage deserts arise out of disadvantageous socioeconomic factors, like poverty and geography. Regions like Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta and reservations in the Dakotas are rife with marriage deserts, as well as disadvantaged neighborhoods in larger cities.
Role-modeling, too, is an important factor in influencing children to grow up and sustain two-parent households. Children who grow up with both parents in the household are more likely to do the same as adults. The same goes for income potential.
"This lack of exposure to those with higher incomes, according to the research, limits upward income mobility," Wilson and Bullivant wrote.
"Perhaps this is about role-modeling, too — high-income friends show what a high-income life looks like and how it is achieved."
The solution, they argue, lies in civil society.
Read more about marriage deserts and how to solve them.
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