This post originally appeared at https://wifamilycouncil.org/radio/ifs-recommends-the-success-sequence-to-build-families/
In a recent article from the Institute for Family Studies, research psychologist Nicholas Zill argues that a proven path to reduce welfare dependence and ensure success for young families is a life plan termed the Success Sequence. The sequence contains three steps: graduate high school, secure a full-time job, and get married before having children. Zill’s cited research revealed that 97% of those who followed the Success Sequence left poverty by their twenties or thirties and 86% rose to the middle or upper class.
Funding promotion of the Success Sequence in our schools and in the public square would be a great state budget item with long-term benefits. We need to build a culture that encourages young people to follow the Success Sequence. Young people who finish school, work hard, and build families through marriage are foundational for a strong state and nation.