excerpts from the book...
The AUDACITY of HOPE
Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
by Barack Obama
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... In honoring Rosa Parks, we honored others as well, the thousands of women and men and
children across the South whose names were absent from the history books, whose stories had
been lost in the slow eddies of time, but whose courage and grace had helped liberate a people.
... Research suggests that on average, married couples live healthier, wealthier, and happier
lives, but no one claims that men and women benefit from being trapped in bad or abusive
marriages. Certainly the decision of increasing numbers of Americans to delay marriage makes
sense; not only does today's information economy demand more time in school, but studies
show that couples who wait until their late twenties or thirties to get married are more likely
to stay married than those who marry young.
Whatever the effect on adults, though, these trends haven't been so good for our children.
Many single moms -- including the one who raised me -- do a heroic job on behalf of their kids.
Still, children living with single mothers are five times more likely to be poor than children in
two-parent households. Children in single-parent homes are also more likely to drop out of
school and become teen parents, even when income is factored out. And the evidence suggests
that on average, children who live with both their biological mother and father do better than
those who live in stepfamilies or with cohabiting partners.
In light of these facts, policies that strengthen marriage for those who choose it and that
discourage unintended births outside of marriage are sensible goals to pursue.
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