Brain Trust - Pat Fagan

Patrick F. Fagan is Senior Fellow and Director of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute with the Family Research Council.

He joined The Matt Friedeman Show's Brain Trust segment to discuss FRC's "Index of Belonging". Below are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

What is this "Index of Belonging" all about?

When children grow up, they need to belong to their family. And when they do, they thrive.

The biggest rejection in the family happens between mom and dad, when they split, or when they have a baby and don't get married.

What proportion of our kids have grown up in a family where everyone belongs? The good news is that almost 45% of our kids grow up in a family like that.

The bad news is that 55% grew up in a family where mom and dad rejected one another.

What is the difference in the social health of the family between now and 1950?

This is a guesstimate, but I would say that in 1950 about 88% of our kids reached 17 with mom and dad belonging.

The depression-era parents raised their kids well. The baby boomers and their kids are much, much different. 

Is there a difference as far as ethnicity goes?

Actually, the black family is in real bad shape. Only in in 16.7 black children reach age 17 with mom and dad belonging. 88% do not.

What can we do about it?

Three things: restore chastity among teenagers. It's a Christian way of relating to the opposite sex.

The second thing is to restore marriage. They go hand in hand.

The third thing is to attend weekly worship of God, and prayer.