Marriage is one of the most effective anti-poverty programs around. But far too often, government assistance programs for people with low incomes discourage marriage, because tying the knot reduces government welfare assistance payments.
. . . According to the Brookings Institution, the U.S. would have 25 percent less poverty today if we had the marriage rates we had in 1970 (79 percent of U.S. adults were married then, versus only 52 percent today). Cutting the poverty rate by a quarter would of course benefit individuals who escape poverty, and also benefit government and taxpayers by cutting the amount that needs to be spent on assistance to poor people.
. . . A new Minnesota law enacted last year with bipartisan support and going into effect in August attempts to remove the marriage disincentive and could serve as a national model.
The Minnesota law increases the family income threshold to allow couples to continue receiving government benefits for one year following a new marriage, as long as family income is no higher than 275 percent of the federal poverty level.
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