Two-Parent Families Are The Key To Safer Cities

Timothy S. Goeglein via FREEDOMS PHOENIX
Several years ago, after a particularly violent weekend in Chicago, th vien-Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, said: "This may not be politically correct, but I know the power of what faith and family can do. ... Our kids need that structure. ... I am asking ... that we don't shy away from a full discussion about the importance of faith and family to develop and nurture character, self-respect, a value system, and a moral compass that allows kids to know good from bad and right from wrong."
Emmanuel's plea for a broader discussion indicates that something must be truly amiss. And it is, as a new study directed by Nicholas Zill for the Institute for Family Studies indicates.
Looking at cities in Ohio, Zill found that there was a much crime rate in cities where two-parent families were in the minority. For instance, only 44 percent of mothers in Springfield, Ohio, were married during the period of 2018–2022. The percentage was even worse in Cleveland with only 33 percent being married, and in Youngstown, which reported only 32 percent were married. Cincinnati fared marginally better at 46 percent.
In contrast, in Cleveland Heights, 63 percent of mothers were married and in New Albany, Ohio, 91 percent were.
And the differences between these cities and their rates of violent crime are startling. Zill found that in Springfield, there were 1,298 incidents of violent crime reported per 100,000 residents, 1,895 incidents in Cleveland, 800 in Cincinnati, and 699 in Youngstown. Meanwhile, Cleveland Heights only reported 267 incidents and New Albany had 99.
This is not surprising. It has been well documented how the rise of fatherless homes has led to a concurrent rise in incarceration rates. Twenty years ago, Cynthia Harper of the University of Pennsylvania and Sara S. McLanahan of Princeton University found that young men who grow up in fatherless homes are twice as likely to end up in jail as those who come from traditional two-parent families.
The numbers of single-parent homes have only gotten worse since.
Out-of-wedlock births are now rampant among all groups. In 2022, 39.8 percent of children were born to single mothers. In Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico, the percentage is even higher: over 48 percent.
The issue of missing fathers is particularly acute in our cities but has serious consequences for our society as a whole. Single mothers can be great mothers, but in a single-parent home, as Emmanuel noted, something is lacking—something necessary for children's emotional and mental development.