>I'm astonished- I expected you would have reviewed all the evidence before you made up your mind. ;-)

Quit teasing me, we're supposed to be mean here. :-)

>For a start: in 2003, 43% of New Zealand children in single-parent households were living in poverty compared with 15% of those living with two parents.

A good case for increasing the number of marriages, by allowing for gay marriages.

>Perhaps we can agree that living in poverty isn't a great start in life.

Agreed.

>One response is to blame society and create further assistance for single parents. However, there is a chicken and egg situation here, with the rise in single-parent families closely related to the behavior of the welfare state and the liberalisation of marriage as an institution.

What the heck does "liberalisation of marriage" of marriage mean?

>Another approach is to promote 2-parent families, which includes promoting marriage (or whatever else you want to call it when you co-operate to raise kids) as a stable social entity rather than a fashion statement or lifestyle choice.

But who isn't promoting two parent marriages. Everyone is on the same page with that. In fact allowing for gay marriage will allow for more 2 parent marriages. Gay marriage is pro family not anti-family.