The Institute for American Values, drawing on research by Paul R. Amato, has published a fascinating list showing the real cost of society's retreat from a traditional family structure in recent decades. By comparing the known rates of certain pathologies among children raised by their own, married biological mother and father to the rates among those raised in other households, and then extrapolating that data to the population as a whole, Amato has calculated the precise cost of "alternative" family forms.

The report says,

"If U.S. Family Structure Was as Strong Today as It Was in 1970:

643,000 fewer children each year would fail a grade at school
1,040,000 fewer children each year would be suspended from school
531,000 fewer children each year would need psychotherapy
453,000 fewer children each year would be involved in violence
515,000 fewer children each year would be cigarette smokers
179,000 fewer children each year would consider suicide
71,000 fewer children each year would attempt suicide"

Source: Paul R. Amato, "The Impact of Family Formation Change on the Cognitive, Social,
and Emotional