Tax Code

Using the Tax Code to help children has become an extremely. popular idea both with the public and among politicians. Current proposals to help children by use of the Tax Code, however, ignore the fact that one of the best ways to help children is to promote stable marriages. This Article argues that we should attempt to find ways to use the Tax Code to contribute to the stability of marriages with children. Such use of the Tax Code would represent a radical departure not only from current proposals, but also from historic tax legislative practice and academic theories of taxation. It is firmly based, however, on a large body of social science research on the effects of family structure on children.' Recent research leaves no doubt that children growing up with both parents enjoy significant advantages that help them meet the challenges of childhood and adolescence and develop into healthy, well-adjusted, and productive adults. Children who do not grow up with two parents...