Vexed Bermoothes

One week into 2010 and we now have two shootings and two road deaths.  That is deeply sad and dysfunctional.

I repost below some thoughts that I posted more than two years ago, on Bermuda’s low marriage rate and the large number of children that are raised in lone parent households.

I maintain that many of Bermuda’s problems stem from this decomposition of the nuclear family.  Yet this is NEVER addressed in public life.  Some of the PLP’s efforts – like mean tested daycare – do seek to try and help struggling single parents.  But this is not enough.  Bermuda needs to work to emphasize the benefits of marriage – and there many – particularly when children are involved.

And Bermuda – you are surprised that kids are going off the rails?  THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH POSITIVE YOUTH ACTIVITIES HERE.  Where are the churches?  All those church halls should be ringing 7 days a week with youth programmes that lead with positive and fun activity.  Ease up on the preaching and start engaging the “hard cases” with a good lifestyle.  If you don’t fill the gap, some half assed gangster wannabe will.  You cannot expect Government to pick up this slack.  Nowhere in that hackneyed cliche does it say “it takes the civil service to raise a child.”

Marriage in Bermuda
October 9th, 2007

So much of Bermuda’s public dialogue centres around several key issues. Low graduation rates in public schools and corresponding low college attendence. Growing pay gaps derived from those educational differences. Overcrowded housing that costs a disproportionate amount of monthly income.

There is a common thread that runs through those issues:  the growth of single parent households in Bermuda.  A Bermuda Government survey highlights that 40% of local children under the age of 18 (more than 6,000) kids live in lone parent families.

Our leaders don’t like to touch this one – it’s a dicey issue as no-one wants to judge our own friends, neighbours, and relatives or to be accused of “blaming the victim.”

But here are some facts recently quoted in The Economist: large studies in America have found that children who grow up in single parent homes are five times more likely to be poor than those who live with both biological parents. They are twice as likely to drop out of high school. And they are less likely to successfully marry and maintain a stable family later in their own life.

At the same time, those Americans who enter lifelong marriages typically end up four times richer than their single peers. This is partly because of the economies of scale and built-in safety net of a larger household. Moreover, the ability to share tasks allows better planning and time spent with children. Finally, married men seem to take life more seriously – drinking less, taking fewer drugs, and working harder – earning between 10-40 percent more than single men of similar schooling and professional backgrounds.

What can be done to re-emphasise the institution of marriage in Bermuda?  In the short term, what concrete initiatives can the community put in place to buttress single parent families, such as better day care options and additional after school programmes?