WETZSTEIN: U.S. needs pact based on family

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By Cheryl Wetzstein

Second of two parts

America's society is — and always has been — completely dependent "on both the quantity and quality of other people's children," say Phillip Longman and David Gray, who study work and family issues at the New America Foundation think tank.

But the old "social contract" appears to have expired, and it's time for a new, "family-based" social contract, they say.

The new contract will revive tangible appreciation for parents and workers in the "nurturing sector" of the economy because they are the ones who do the invaluable work of creating, raising and molding the next generation.

Under the expired contract, the American family was presumed to be essential but self-perpetuating, Mr. Longman and Mr. Gray explain in their report, "A Family-Based Social Contract."

Men and women married and stayed together until death. Children "appeared" because birth control was ineffective, and once born, they were viewed as assets, both for their energetic labor and for their future support for elderly family members.

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Today, marriage is something to delay — or avoid — and if it is achieved, with easy divorce, it may not last. Worst of all, children are no longer viewed as assets; they are million-dollar "liabilities."