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# The Dysfunctional Society Revisited
- URL: https://thedailyeudemon.com/2088/
- Published: 2005-08-20T10:01:39.000Z
- Updated: 2005-08-20T10:01:39.000Z
- Author: Eric Scheske
- Tags: Family, #wpChunk

In response to our post about [The Dysfunctional Society](https://thedailyeudemon.com/2082/), an astute reader wrote to us:

> When I read the first paragraph of the original *Wash Times* article a couple of days ago, I got the same impression: two-parent households have been superseded by single-parent households. It wasn't till I got to paragraph 8 that I realized I was mistaken (and then I had to read it twice to be sure). By "single-adult household", they \[include\] "one adult and no-one else". This definition includes my elderly, widowed mother, or my never-married brother.

> Being cynical, I suspect the newspaper reporter deliberately used phrasing that would mislead the casual reader, or headline-scanner. After all, it would fit the Left's agenda to have us all thinking that "mom, pop, and two kids" is obsolete; that there are many more "families" that are just "parent and kid(s)". But according to the article, the top three living arrangements are:

> 1\. Single adult (one person alone)

> 2\. Nuclear family (two married parents and a child)

> 3\. Married households without children.

> The article never says where "single-parent households" rank, and I think that is a very revealing ommision.

She's right. The census figures are explained here. [Link](http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0037575.cfm?ref=thedailyeudemon.com). Excerpt:

> In fact, the Census Bureau's category “single-adult” takes in a lot of people. William Devlin, the founder of the Urban Family Council, says it includes both ends of the life cycle; young people just starting out and older people who are widowed.

We would also point out that most single-parent families tend to have only one or two children. More stable families tend to have larger families. As a result, greater numbers of children are being raised by two parents. Those children will, in turn, be more stable when they grow up.

Congratulations to the sharp reader. *TDE* and the *Washington Times* weren't the only ones to sound the defeat bell too loudly. [Link](http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=39110&ref=thedailyeudemon.com).