Sixty-five percent of American children are living in households that receive some form of federal assistance, according to a new report.
The report by the Census Bureau found that in 2011, almost two-thirds lived in households that participated in at least one or more government aid program, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Medicaid, and the National School Lunch Program,
CNS News reported.
"How to be dependent on government is now one of the earliest life lessons America is teaching nearly a supermajority of children," CNS News said. "Children living in households that have never taken federal assistance are now a minority in the United States.
"In the future, they will be among a minority of adults."
The percentage of children in households participating in the programs has increased significantly since 2003. In that year, 56 percent of children under 18 lived in households that received aid from one or more federal programs.
Figures from the Census Bureau also show a sharp decrease in the percentage of children living with two parents.
In 2011, 68 percent were living with two parents, and 63 percent were living with two married parents. By comparison, over 85 percent of American children were living with two parents in 1970, CNS News reported.
The study also said that children living with cohabiting parents "more closely resembled single-parent families," while children living with a single parent are most likely to be in poverty.
"The ultimate struggle for the future of America is not political or economic, but cultural. It is between those who believe in self-reliance and traditional family life and those who do not," CNS News said.
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