Onely.Org

The Problem of Andrew Yang August 16, 2019

It is with a heavy heart that I must ask our Copious Readers to not support Andrew Yang in his quest for the US Democratic presidential nomination.

I used to like him, but recently Yang has embraced outdated and poorly researched notions about the institution of marriage, and as a result his policies discriminate against single people (me). To my dismay, he proudly plans to offer free marriage counseling, because according to his web site:

Children raised in two-parent households have better outcomes across almost every dimension. Studies also show that being in a happy marriage contributes to longevity and life satisfaction.

Both those sentences are wrong. For information about hurtful stereotypes of children raised by single parents, please see the links in this earlier Onely post. For information about pro-singles study results and the faulty science behind pro-marriage studies, see Dr. Bella DePaulo’s book Marriage vs. Single Life.

But it seems Yang hasn’t done his research, because he continues:

Because of the huge societal good that comes from keeping married couples who want to stay together in their relationships, marriage counseling for interested couples should be free or heavily subsidized by the government.

I do not want my tax dollars to fund marriage counseling, unless I, as a single person, also get free counseling–to help me manage the stress of dealing with ignorant faux-progressives like Yang.

For me personally, living independently contributes to my health and life satisfaction. It’s not all roses, but any difficulties I have from being single don’t stem from my relationship status itself, but from the systemic discrimination against people with my marital status. I live in Northern Virginia where housing is priced (and built) for two-income families. I pay more for health insurance because I’m single. I can’t use a friend’s health insurance policy because I’m not having regular cohabiting sex with him/her.

In my lifetime, I will spend over a million dollars more than my married peers, just because of laws in the US federal code that privilege married people. We cannot let Yang add another marriage-worshipping policy to that pantheon of prejudice.

–Christina

Image credit: Asa Mathat for Techonomy.com