1. Marriage:
Maine’s No. 1 Weapon
Against
Childhood Poverty
How the Collapse of Marriage Hurts Children
and Three Steps to Reverse the Damage
A Heritage Foundation Book of Charts • 2012
Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society

2. Growth of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing in Maine, 1929–2010
Throughout most of Maine’s PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK
history, out-of-wedlock childbear-
ing was rare. 50%
When the federal government’s
War on Poverty began in 1964,
only 4.1 percent of children in 41.2%
40%
Maine were born out of wedlock.
However, over the next four
decades, the number rose rapidly.
By 2010, 41.2 percent of births in 30%
Maine occurred outside of mar-
riage.
20%
Note: Initiated by President Lyndon
Johnson in 1964, the War on Poverty
led to the creation of more than three 10%
dozen welfare programs to aid poor
persons. Government has spent $16.7
trillion on means-tested aid to the poor
since 1964.
0%
Sources: U.S. Government, U.S. Census
Bureau, and National Center for Health 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Statistics.
Chart 1 • Marriage and Poverty in Maine heritage.org

3. Death of Marriage in Maine, 1929–2010
The marital birth rate — the PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN BORN TO MARRIED COUPLES
percentage of all births that occur
to married parents — is the flip 100%
side of the out-of-wedlock birth
rate.
Through most of the 20th cen- 90%
tury, marital births were the norm
in Maine. In 1964, more than 96
percent of births occurred to
married couples. 80%
However, in the mid-1960s, the
marital birth rate began to fall
steadily. By 2010, only 58.8 per-
70%
cent of births in Kansas occurred
to married couples.
60%
Note: In any given year, the sum of the 58.8%
out-of-wedlock birth rate (Chart 1)
and the marital birth rate (Chart 2)
equals 100 percent of all births.
50%
Sources: U.S. Government, U.S. Census
Bureau, and National Center for Health 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Statistics.
Chart 2 • Marriage and Poverty in Maine heritage.org

4. In Maine, Marriage Drops the Probability of Child Poverty
by 87 Percent
The rapid rise in out-of-wedlock PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN THAT ARE POOR
childbearing is a major cause of 50%
high levels of child poverty in
Maine.
Some 39.1 percent of single 39.1%
40%
mothers with children were poor
compared to 5.1 percent of mar-
ried couples with children.
Single-parent families with 30%
children are more than six times
more likely to be poor than fami-
lies in which the parents are mar- 20%
ried.
The higher poverty rate among
single-mother families is due both
10%
to the lower education levels of
the mothers and the lower income 5.1%
due to the absence of the father.
0%
Single-Parent, Married,Two-Parent
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Female-Headed Families
Community Survey, 2007–2009 data. Families
Chart 3 • Marriage and Poverty in Maine heritage.org

5. In Maine, One-Third of All Families with Children Are Not Married
Overall, married couples head
about two-thirds of families with
children in Maine. One-third are
single-parent families.
Unmarried
Families
32.5%
Married
Families
67.5%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American
Community Survey, 2007–2009 data.
Chart 4 • Marriage and Poverty in Maine heritage.org

6. In Maine, 76 Percent of Poor Families with Children Are Not Married
Among poor families with
children in Maine, 76 percent are
not married. By contrast, only
one-quarter of poor families with
children are headed by married
Married
couples. Families
23.8%
Unmarried
Families
76.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American
Community Survey, 2007–2009 data.
Chart 5 • Marriage and Poverty in Maine heritage.org

7. In Maine, Few Unwed Births Occur to Teenagers
Out-of-wedlock births are often PERCENTAGE OF OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHS
confused erroneously with teen BY AGE OF MOTHER
Under
births, but only 4.9 percent of
Age 18:
out-of-wedlock births in Maine 4.9%
occur to girls under age 18.
By contrast, some 79 percent of
out-of-wedlock births occur to
Age
young adult women between the 30–54: Age
ages of 18 and 29. 15.9% 18–19:
13.8%
Age
25–29:
24.0%
Age
20–24:
41.4%
Note: Figures have been rounded.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2008 NHS
data.
Chart 6 • Marriage and Poverty in Maine heritage.org

8. Less-Educated Women in Maine Are More Likely
to Give Birth Outside of Marriage
Unwed childbearing occurs PERCENTAGE OF BIRTHS THAT ARE MARITAL
most frequently among the OR OUT OF WEDLOCK
women who will have the greatest 100%
8.1% Unmarried
difficulty supporting children by
90%
Mothers
themselves: those with low levels
of education. 37.7%
80%
Nationwide, among women 54.5%
who are high school dropouts, 70%
65.2%
about two-thirds of all births occur 60%
outside marriage. Among women
who have only a high school 50%
Married
diploma, more than half of all 91.9%
40% Mothers
births occur outside marriage. By 62.3%
contrast, among women with at 30%
least a college degree, only 8 per- 45.5%
cent of births are out-of-wedlock. 20%
34.8%
Note: Specific data on out-of-wedlock 10%
births and maternal education is not
available in Maine. However, the pattern 0%
varies little between states. Maine data High School High School Some College Mother’s
will be very similar to the national data Dropout Graduate College Graduate education
presented in this chart.
(0–11 (12 (13–15 (16+ level
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Years) Years) Years) Years)
Human Services, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2008 NHS
data. Chart 7 • Marriage and Poverty in Maine heritage.org

9. Both Marriage and Education Are Highly Effective
in Reducing Child Poverty in Maine
The poverty rate of married PERCENTAGE OF FAMILIES Poverty Rate of Families by
couples with children is dramati- WITH CHILDREN THAT Single
Education and Marital Status
cally lower than the rate for house- ARE POOR Married
of the Head of Household
holds headed by single parents.
70%
This is true even when the married
couple is compared to single par-
60% 57.9%
ents with the same education level.
For example, in Maine, the 50%
poverty rate for a single mother 41.9%
who has only a high school 40%
diploma is 41.9 percent, but the 33.9%
poverty rate for a married couple 30%
family headed by an individual 25.7%
who, similarly, has only a high 20%
school degree is far lower at 8.8
11.6%
percent. 10% 8.8%
4.9%
On average, marriage drops the 1.3%
poverty rate by 77 percent among 0%
families with the same education High School High School Some College
level. Dropout Graduate College Graduate
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Note: Virtually none of the heads of families in the chart who are high school
Community Survey, 2005–2009 data. dropouts are minor teenagers.
Chart 8 • Marriage and Poverty in Maine heritage.org

10. Racial Composition of All Births and Out-of-Wedlock Births in Maine
In Maine in 2008, some 92.9 ALL BIRTHS OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHS
percent of all births occurred to
non-Hispanic whites, 2.7 percent
occurred to non-Hispanic blacks,
and 1.6 percent occurred to His-
panics.
The pattern for non-marital
births was nearly identical. Some
93.3 percent of all non-marital 92.9% White Non- 93.3%
births were to non-Hispanic Hispanic
whites, 2.1 percent were to black
non-Hispanic women, and 1.9
percent were to Hispanics.
2.7% Black Non-Hispanic 2.1%
Source: U.S. Department of Health and 1.6% Hispanic 1.9%
2.8% Asian/Other 2.7%
Human Services, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2008 NHS
data. Note: Figures have been rounded.
Chart 9 • Marriage and Poverty in Maine heritage.org

11. Unwed Birth Rates Vary Little by Race in Maine
In 2008, 39.7 percent of births PERCENT OF BIRTHS THAT ARE OUT OF WEDLOCK
in Maine occurred outside mar-
riage. Out-of-wedlock childbear- 60%
ing varied little by race. This uni- 8.3%
form pattern is unusual.
Among whites, four in every ten 50%
45.7%
births were to unmarried women
(39.9 percent). This was the 39.7% 39.9%
second highest white non-marital 40%
birth rate in the nation, and far
higher than the national average of 31.7%
28.6 percent. 30%
Among Hispanics, 45.7 percent
of births were out-of-wedlock. The
20%
rate among non-Hispanic blacks
was around three in ten (31.7
percent), far lower than the
national average. 10%
0%
Source: U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Centers for Disease All Races White Hispanic Black
Control and Prevention, 2008 NHS Non- Non-
data. Hispanic Hispanic
Chart 10 • Marriage and Poverty in Maine heritage.org

12. Three Steps to Reduce Child Poverty through Marriage
1) Provide information on the benefits of marriage in reducing child poverty
and improving child well-being.
Marriage is a highly effective institution which greatly decreases parental and child
poverty while improving long-term outcomes for children. Conversely, the absence of
marriage greatly increases welfare costs and imposes added burdens on taxpayers.
Unfortunately, almost no information on these topics is available in low-income
communities. This information deficit should be corrected in the following manner:
• Explain the benefits of marriage in middle and high schools with a high
proportion of at-risk youth;
• Create public education campaigns in low-income communities on the
benefits of marriage; and,
• Require federally funded birth control clinics to provide information on the
benefits of marriage and the skills needed to develop stable families to
interested low-income clients.
2) Reduce anti-marriage penalties in means-tested welfare programs.
3) Promote life-goal-planning, marriage-strengthening, and divorce-reduction
programs to increase healthy marriages and reduce divorce and separation.

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