Blessings of the Nuclear Option

Kids who live with both biological parents and regularly attend religious services are five times less likely to repeat a grade. That’s according to a recent “Mapping America” study by the Family Research Council. Studying data from the National Survey of Children’s Health, the FRC also found that children reared in intact nuclear families are more cooperative and empathetic, and they present fewer behavioral problems. Nor are children the only beneficiaries of traditional family homes, says FRC senior fellow Pat Fagan. He points out that well-adjusted kids make for higher-functioning families, communities and, indeed, societies.