Economics and Marriage: A Rejoinder to Rauch

Jonathan Rauch has turned a lot of heads with this article on the economic challenges of the working class. One of his major themes is how those challenges relate to the breakdown of marriage among that population. Three cheers to him for owning that issue, and sounding the alarm about what a disaster the breakdown of marriage is, especially for the most vulnerable! Unfortunately, his understanding of the economic side of the picture is flawed, so his policy proposals amount to little. He thinks there’s a breakdown in the relationship between productivity and wages, but the evidence he produces doesn’t establish this—-and there is much evidence to the contrary. A loss of the sense that productive work has religious and moral value is a greater concern—-and is thankfully one that we can actually do something about. More at Hang Together .