The reality also is that we are not going to be able to legislature social norms which have changed over the years. There are many more un-traditional families (single moms, etc.) now than 60 years ago.
We can take steps in welfare programs that effectively "pay" for socially responsible behavior if we follow the model of some European countries (like providing milestone payments to families where the second parent stays in the household if they are on public assistance while not cutting the assistance given to the mother plus kids for the father being there).
The bottom line is that we cannot abandon the children in lower income households; there is actually a need to increase public assistance to them but we need to improve oversight to ensure the benefits (food, etc.) are reaching the children and not being misappropriated by the parent(s)/guardian(s). My wife teaches kindergarten - there are too many stories of poor kids coming to school after not being fed at home after the single parent trades the EBT benefits for alcohol, etc. The educators do the best to help these neglected children get free breakfast/lunch at school and sends them home with backpacks with food over weekends. The issue in many cases is that the parent(s) totally neglect the children, not even showing up for parent conferences - nor caring for the other needs of the children (clothes, grooming, etc.). The entire situation is sad.
