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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

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Study: Family Values Turned Upside Down?

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Friday, July 30, 2010   

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An invisible line exists between red states and blue states about family values, according to new research from a law professor at University of Missouri-Kansas City. States tallying the most Democratic votes in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, called "blue states," have the lowest rates of divorce and teen pregnancy. Red States have the highest.

Researcher June Carbone found that women in blue states generally get married and have kids later in life. She explains that many women in red states, who have put off higher education to start a family earlier, have found life financially challenging - and Missouri is no different.

"The sense of crisis for those following a traditional path that preaches abstinence, early marriage and traditional gender roles is simply at odds with today's economy."

Rev. Rebecca Turner with Faith Aloud claims state policy can be connected to some of the report's findings.

"In Missouri's effort to restrict sex education, contraception and abortion, the result is higher rates of teen pregnancy, lower ages for first marriage, lower rates of college education and lower income."

Turner uses abstinence-only education is an example of a failed policy in Missouri. She says teen pregnancy rates remain high in the state, with more than 8,600 births to teens each year, even though there's been a slow decline nationwide over the last decade.

"We have to look at the real results of what our policies are and not just base them on some kind of moral code."

Reproductive health advocates, such as Faith Aloud, say this research turns the traditional idea of family values upside down. However, Carbone adds, the blue family model isn't perfect. She points to fertility issues, when women wait longer to have children, as one downside.

Carbone's research can be found in the book, "Red Families vs. Blue Families."




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