April 26, 2008

By Russ Pulliam, Indianapolis Star

Reduced to a bumper sticker, the message might read: “End poverty now. Stay married.”

That’s a little too simple for state Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville. But he has signed up with the Indiana Family Institute to draft state policies that are friendlier to families.

A recent study puts the nation’s cost of family fragmentation at $112 billion, including $839 million in Indiana. Fragmentation is defined as divorce, resulting in single-parent households, and children born outside of marriage.

Kenley is not the most predictable member of the General Assembly to lead this charge. The senator, a prime mover in property tax reform this past session, is known more as an economic than a social conservative.

Perhaps because he pays close attention to the increased costs of social services, Kenley wants a study committee to figure out steps the state can take to promote stronger families. “Regardless of your political stripes, we have some hard numbers here,” Kenley said.

Family breakdown is a cultural problem that government won’t be able to resolve with a magic program or two. Yet Kenley thinks the issue cries out to be addressed.

“The family is a remarkable wealth generator,” adds Curt Smith, the Indiana Family Institute president who joined Kenley in releasing the study last week. “Modest gains produce huge returns.” A 1 percent reduction in fragmented families nationally could yield more than $1 billion in savings.

What is harder to quantify is the even more valuable multigenerational blessing of a solid, two-parent family for the children.

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