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Poverty and the Father Factor

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She was right, of course. But while marriage may not be a cure for poverty, it does turn out to be a fairly reliable preventative . Isn't it worthwhile to spend more time and resources helping young people to understand the economic implications of single parenthood before they become single parents? Wouldn't it make sense to rethink our relatively recent easy acceptance of out-of-wedlock parenting?

And might it not be a good idea to work at restoring the influence of the community institutions, religious and civic, that used to help strengthen families? The trends Billingsley talked about were a long time developing, and they won't be reversed in a day or two.

As he told me, "You can't have strong families unless you have strong communities, and you can't have strong communities unless you have strong institutions."

Phillip Jackson, executive director of Chicago's Black Star Project and promoter of the Million Father March, cites the oft-repeated proverb that it "takes a village to raise a child."

In too many parts of the black community, he said, "the proverb has little relevance. There is no village to raise the children . . . no collective community effort to ensure that most black children will grow up capable of succeeding in the 21st century.

"Unfortunately, African proverbs don't raise children. People do."

willrasp@washpost.com

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