A Father's Day problem in the working class

The plight of inner-city blacks that Patrick Moynihan chronicled in his 1965 paper The Negro Family is now the plight of middle-America working-class whites. The typical child born to white parents without a college degree is growing up without the benefit of married parents at home.

You could say there’s a fatherhood crisis in Trump Country.

Marriage is declining fast in the U.S. Only half of adults are married. It was about three-fourths a generation ago.

You might go along with theexplanation from the wonks at Vox.com, who say “the ‘decline’ of marriage isn’t a problem,” but is, rather, “a consequence of something good.” The argument for this is that women have been liberated by greater economic equality with men, and so now, they’re not forced to hitch their fortunes to a man.

But the data don't support this explanation. The retreat from marriage isn’t Wesleyan-educated feminists refusing to tie themselves to a patriarchal institution, or enlightened elites eschewing a tired tradition. The collapse of marriage is mostly among those with no college degrees who don't have great financial prospects.

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