Jean Bethke Elshtain

In the following viewpoint, Jean Bethke Elshtain asserts that the two-parent family is crucial to the well-being of America’s children and society as a whole. In Elshtain’s view, divorce and single parenthood contributes to a wide array of social problems, including teen suicide, crime, drug abuse, and poverty. She contends that marriage provides the only environment in which children can truly flourish. Elshtain is a professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago’s Divinity School.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. In what ways does family breakdown negatively impact children’s lives, in the author’s view?
2. What is the best antipoverty program for children, according to Elshtain?
3. As explained by Elshtain, what lessons do families teach"

In their November...