How Obamacare Threatens Marriage

Obamacare’s consequences go well beyond all the website malfunctions.

For example, Obamacare will tax marriage — another blow to the institution that lies at the heart of our society.

A tax on married couples will effectively fund couples who cohabitate, divorce, or never marry, The Heritage Foundation’s Collette Caprara explains. This strain will put a burden on married couples at all income brackets. Under Obamacare, couples would be better off financially to separate or never commit to marriage.

Keeping traditional marriages and families intact was already an uphill battle as both government policies like welfare and social changes have reduced marriage and increased cohabitation. Not only does marriage provide positive effects for the husband and wife, their children reap benefits as well because they are less likely to experience issues with health, education, and poverty.

Caprara elaborates:

“Without the benefits of an intact family, children are 82 percent more likely to live in poverty and tend to fare worse on a wide range of economic measures. In their teens, they are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors such as sexual activity, substance abuse, and anti-social behavior. They also tend to fare worse on emotional and psychological outcomes and have lower levels of academic achievement and educational attainment.“

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