Marriage as an Economic Institution

From today's Breakpoint:

"... while the debate on marriage usually focuses on its social, moral, and religious qualities, marriage is also an 'economic institution.' It is a 'powerful creator of human and social capital.'

“Divorce and unwed childbearing create substantial public costs, paid by taxpayers.”

How much? A minimum of $112 billion a year. That is more than a $1 trillion a decade in 'increased taxpayer expenditures for antipoverty, criminal justice . . . education programs,' and lost tax revenues.

This is in fact the premise of Jennifer Roback Morse's book Love and Economics, and is the basis for her argument that Libertarians should be pro-family. In short, marriage and traditional families are good for the economy.

Read Colson's full commentary here, and also yesterday's column, which is equally sobering.