| | Thanks for the links Luke. I like the one in your Post 0 more... although I don't come to the same conclusion as the author on the solution. This post is in reply to the article linked in Post 0.
I'd agree that contraceptives have reduced the cost of sex, and have enabled women to lower their inhibition to having sex with less responsible men. Potentially due to the woman's hormones with sex & love, this may very well also result in woman staying in relationships with irresponsible men longer... resulting in less demand for men to be more responsible.
I'd disagree with the author's conclusion that welfare hasn't "caused" reduction in marriage rates. The author was looking at data for correlation, and when the dates didn't immediately correlate, he took that as an indicator that the causation wasn't there. Effects of causation can be delayed. Another cause of reduction in marriage rate is the increase in lawsuits that force men to pay alimony... that's a huge disincentive for men to marry.
Now as for the author's suggested solution: "For example, heavy taxes on men for fathering children and/or aggressive child-support programs might alter the terms of trade and change male behavior."
Uh... our society is already trying that... its an epic fail. It prevents the alpha males from fathering more children, and it has no effect on penniless fathers who have nothing to tax or redistribute for child care.
My current proposed solution is: Encourage voluntary guardianship & care. To reject a default care contract when no care contract was explicitly accepted by either the mother or the father. To enforce voluntarily accepted care contracts. Permit forfeit of guardianship role when not contractually obligated. Allow the free market to provide care for incompetents who lose guardianship support.
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