'Welfare state' is destroying families

In 1965, Patrick Moynihan, then part of President Johnson's administration, made headlines when he noted that the black family structure was crumbling based on a 25 percent rate of out-of-wedlock births. The rate is now over 70 percent and even 80 percent in large urban areas.

The impact on the black family structure has been disastrous. Men are three times more likely to end up in jail and children are 30 percent more likely to drop out of high school. Girls are twice as likely to have a child without being married, thereby repeating the negative cycle for another generation.

The black family has not always been this way. In the 1940s, the out-of-wedlock births were about 5 percent, comparable to whites. So why the change?

Almost all now agree that the well-intentioned welfare programs of President Johnson's Great Society in the 1960s prompted this disaster by encouraging men to leave the home to increase benefits to the mother.

Lest you think I am picking on my black brothers and sisters, know that the Hispanic out-of-wedlock birthrate is now 52 percent and the whites' stands at 30 percent. As a result, four out of every 10 babies in our country are born out of wedlock.

The question then is how do we reverse this trend? Government has little influence on moral values and in this case even encouraged out-of-wedlock births.

The traditional news media hasn't even addressed the issue and social media only adds to the problem with their glorification of Hollywood stars and professional athletes who have children out of wedlock.

We as a people have to acknowledge the overwhelming challenges facing both the children born out of wedlock and our country. The only solution is returning to biblical marriage as the best environment for raising children.

Richard Kaiser

Elk Grove Village