The Patriot Post® · Good News: Two-Parent Households Back on the Rise

There has been much cause for concern in recent years about the cultural destruction of the nuclear family. This destruction is happening despite the fact that study after study has proven that children raised by their biological parents from birth have inherent advantages.

However, there is good news on that front. According to the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), the percentage of two-parent households seems to be slowly on the rise again. The numbers IFS gathered from the U.S. Census reveal that in 2023 the two-parent household figure rose to 71.1%. This is a marked improvement even since 2020 when the percentage of children with two-parent families was 70.4%.

One caveat: These numbers incorporate not just biological parents but also stepparents, cohabitating parents, etc. However, as of 2022, a majority (53.6%) of kids ages 15-17 have been raised by their two biological parents.

What are some of the inherent advantages of nuclear families? Let’s start with the benefits of having married parents. This demographic is generally happier and more financially well-off. For the children, these benefits double. Kids being raised by their married biological parents are less likely to suffer abuse, are generally higher achievers academically, have a better chance at social mobility, and benefit from the financial stability of their parents.

The American people are slowly turning back toward that two-parent structure in spite of all the propaganda to the contrary. Moreover, as The Washington Stand points out, “The numbers appear to contradict widely accepted narratives offered by writers at legacy media outlets like The Atlantic, The New York Times, and a number of others about the supposedly inevitable decline in two-parent family structures.” These Leftmedia outfits are generally enthralled by the DEI claptrap of “equity” and would rather promote alternative family structures that “level the playing field.” In other words, they’d rather everyone fail equally than succeed meritoriously.

IFS’s stats show that U.S. citizens of Asian descent (81%) have the highest percentage of children living with married parents, and black Americans (33%) have the lowest. So, instead of trying to encourage the black community to partake of the benefits of a two-parent household, the Leftmedia insists that all forms of family are equally beneficial. Thankfully, mainstream media has lost so much of its credibility that fewer people are swallowing its poison pill.

Most Americans have a positive view of marriage, though they don’t really understand the value of it. According to The Daily Signal: “54% of people didn’t agree that society is better off when more people are married, with 19% disagreeing and 35% being unsure. As to the questions about family stability, 48% didn’t agree that marriage is needed to create stronger families and 46% didn’t agree that marriage makes families and children better off financially.”

This paradox is further underscored by a recent Gallup poll showing that most Americans believe that having families with two or more children is better, but the actual number of children they are having contradicts that. Furthermore, Gen Z is simultaneously promoting the idea of DINKs or even singleness (because kids are a drag, according to them).

Parents, kids, the nuclear family — all are being attacked from both sides.

So why is there an upward trend in two-parent families if people don’t even understand the value of marriage or family? Perhaps it’s one of those phenomena where people will say one thing and do another. Or perhaps the media, in all its forms, is out of touch with the everyday American.

Whatever the case may be, we can celebrate this upward trend and continue to encourage one another to have stable two-parent households, which provide the best chance at positive life outcomes for all.