See that’s the thing, these culture gripes are never (that I’ve seen) accompanied by a cogent proposal for an alternative. It’s just: tear it down and let the market figure it out. But we already did that, and it was fucking awful, which is why there are systems borne of activist sympathies, imperfect as they are.

Yeah, two-parent households are really fantastic, and so is high-quality education. Which of those is more addressable via policy? Imploring people to have more durable relationships through child-rearing doesn’t seem like it’ll move the needle as much as broadening access to education which is almost totally controllable by policy.

Not having policies which penalize marriage would be a good start. For most people if they are "poor" being married means less access to benefits. The ACA / Obamacare is well known for it's marriage penalty but many other benefit programs have similar guidelines.

What percentage of failed or avoided marriages are due to such policies, do you reckon? Not opposed to your suggestion, but a path to national prosperity it is not.

The official government recognition of marriage is pretty divorced from having that relationship. If a couple is disadvantaged more than advantaged by official marriage, why would they not get a paper divorce but continue to live as a couple?