'Kids are all right with just mom'

"Using U.S. Census data and state-by-state incarceration rates, he and a colleague found evidence linking decreases in minority high school dropout rates to the growing incarceration rate for minority men between 18 and 40"

The study DID NOT look at single parent families, it just correlated minority incarceration rates and minority dropout rates (regardless if those drop-outs were from single or dual-parent families).

In other words, not only is the study garbage, but the reporting is inaccurate as well.

This is garbage. From the abstract: "We use incarceration rates for men as instrumental variables in estimating the effect"

So, in other words, they "estimate" that areas with higher minority incarceration rates have higher rates of single motherhood, and then look at how the kids are doing. In other words, this "report" is nothing more than a wild ass guess. This is a joke. I, personally, would be embarrassed to publish a "study" with this type of methodology with my name on it.

This is from NEA???

OMG, thanks for pointing that out. I don't trust anything from them!

It makes me wish I never commented on this in the first place. They are not worth the time. (I deleted this original post)

"The study DID NOT look at single parent families, it just correlated minority incarceration rates and minority dropout rates (regardless if those drop-outs were from single or dual-parent families).
...
So, in other words, they "estimate" that areas with higher minority incarceration rates have higher rates of single motherhood, and then look at how the kids are doing. In other words, this "report" is nothing more than a wild ass guess. This is a joke. I, personally, would be embarrassed to publish a "study" with this type of methodology with my name on it."

Thanks for pointing that out. How incredibly absurd! Despite the fact that this is not even remotely a study, it actually conflicts with common sense and actual studies, yet its still published...

Having been a teacher and member of the National Education Association, I got a lot of their garbage research delivered to me in their publications. Many in the leadership are still fighting the "good fight" for feminism in spite of all the research that shows how pathetic schools are for boys and male teachers. This is just more junk on how it's best to have mom and the government raise the kids.

Before anyone's head explodes, it's important to note that the writer of this story used a misleading, attention grabbing headline. As well as putting some feminist spin on what appears to be legatimate reasearch

Here is a direct quote from the study:

"By removing potentially lower-quality husbands and fathers from the marriage market via incarceration, it appears, their negative influence on children in the home is reduced. So although a higher incarceration rate leaves in its wake a higher number of never-married mothers, their children actually end up doing better.”

This researcher seems to be referring to non-biological husbands who marry single mothers' who already have children. In other words, this economist is agreeing with what MRA's have been saying for years. When mom gives dad the boot, gets the kids, and starts dating a scumbag, who then becomes that child's new stepfather; usually the kids don't end up doing too well. That could mean anything from not graduating highschool to ending up in a early grave. Children living with their mother's boyfriend are twice as likely to die of abuse, then children in an intact family living with biological parents.

TL;DR: Science tells us what we already know. Intact families with biological parents are better for children then single parent households. But single parent households are better then a household consisting of mom and her scumbag boyfriend.

Surely coming soon from the same researchers: The kids are alright with just Dad.

I would also suggest caution being overly critical. The study clearly has misandrist roots but isn't entirely the male-bashing piece it would initially seem to be. If people think women can't do a good job raising kids alone they'll never think dads can.

There's tons of research showing the disadvantage of children raised by single mothers. On the other hand, there is a lack of studies showing that children raised by single fathers are significantly disadvantaged. For example, NIS-3 showed that single-mother households have a rate of abuse three times that of single-father households.

So, the strange truth is that while feminists have claimed "children don't need a father" the research has proven that they do, indeed, need fathers. It is mothers which are less necessary.

"Intact families with biological parents are better for children then single parent households. But single parent households are better then a household consisting of mom and her scumbag boyfriend."

Glad you pointed this out. It's very easy to confuse the data, if the focus is on "two parents." It's not any two parents--it's bio mom and bio dad married to each other that makes the best environment for raising children.

From the research I've done, about the worst choice is mom and her "scumbag boyfriend." Yet that's where courts usually place children of divorce. Apparently, family judges never do any research on the subject, even a lot of people think they do.