Policy Implications
When reauthorization of the 1996 welfare law begins in
earnest this year, as well as during the annual appropriations
process, there will be loud debate over proposals,
enthusiastically backed by the Bush administration, to
launch new marriage promotion initiatives and to
expand abstinence-only education programming. Many
scholars as well as advocates, however, are uneasy with
the notion of government as “marriage broker.” And
they question whether government effectively can—or
even should—spend its capital on morality-based campaigns
to convince people who are unmarried not to
have sex. The research presented here, in fact, indicates
that this approach is driven more by ideology
than evidence. It strongly suggests that more-realistic
attitudes about young people’s sexuality and more-comprehensive
responses to their needs, broadly defined, as
they make the transition from adolescence to adulthood
would be the more-appropriate approach.
Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) is one member of
Congress who understands this. Cardin is ranking
minority member of the Human Resources
Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means
Committee, which will play a key role in the welfare
reauthorization process. At a November 2001 hearing on
teenage pregnancy, Cardin articulated what he believes
the government should be doing to build on the current
progress: “I would say that we should continue our focus
on personal responsibility; we should do a better job of
not only funding local efforts to combat teen pregnancy,
but also of highlighting successful programs; we should
increase access to youth development and after-school
programs that give teenagers productive activities to
pursue; and we should promote the value of abstinence
without undercutting our commitment to providing
access to and information about contraception.”
Policy Implications
When reauthorization of the 1996 welfare law begins in
earnest this year, as well as during the annual appropriations
process, there will be loud debate over proposals,
enthusiastically backed by the Bush administration, to
launch new marriage promotion initiatives and to
expand abstinence-only education programming. Many
scholars as well as advocates, however, are uneasy with
the notion of government as “marriage broker.” And
they question whether government effectively can—or
even should—spend its capital on morality-based campaigns
to convince people who are unmarried not to
have sex. The research presented here, in fact, indicates
that this approach is driven more by ideology
than evidence. It strongly suggests that more-realistic
attitudes about young people’s sexuality and more-comprehensive
responses to their needs, broadly defined, as
they make the transition from adolescence to adulthood
would be the more-appropriate approach.
Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) is one member of
Congress who understands this. Cardin is ranking
minority member of the Human Resources
Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means
Committee, which will play a key role in the welfare
reauthorization process. At a November 2001 hearing on
teenage pregnancy, Cardin articulated what he believes
the government should be doing to build on the current
progress: “I would say that we should continue our focus
on personal responsibility; we should do a better job of
not only funding local efforts to combat teen pregnancy,
but also of highlighting successful programs; we should
increase access to youth development and after-school
programs that give teenagers productive activities to
pursue; and we should promote the value of abstinence
without undercutting our commitment to providing
access to and information about contraception.”
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