Josh Wood Profile picture
May 14 10 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Divorce is the choice we’ve been told not to question.

That must end.

A massive new study tracked over 1 million children across 50 years. The results are devastating.

If you’re a parent or policymaker, you need to see what divorce really does to kids: 🧵 Image
After divorce, kids face:

- 60% higher risk of teen pregnancy
- 40% higher risk of jail time
- 45% higher risk of early death
- 9–13% lower adult wages
- Lower chances of going to college

All compared to the kids whose parents stayed married. Image
Some will say “an unhappy household is worse than divorce” but this study found zero evidence that divorce helps kids.

In fact, the younger a child is at divorce, the worse the outcomes.

Post-divorce life is the real damage. Image
What causes this damage?

Not just the divorce but the chain reaction that comes after:

•    Income drops
•    Parents live apart
•    Kids move to worse neighborhoods
•    Stepparents enter
•    Stability shatters

These aren’t minor shifts.
They blow up a child’s entire world.Image
The study found that the loss of income, worse neighborhoods, and time away from each parent explained up to 60% of the harm.

But unseen factors like emotional stress and family breakdown carry deep consequences. Image
Half of all divorced parents remarry within five years, introducing step-parents and step-siblings into the home.

All these household changes further disrupt a child’s sense of belonging, trust, and long-term stability. Image
Abuse is a tragedy and in those cases, protecting the spouse and child is paramount.

But most divorces don’t involve violence. They’re low-conflict. And in those cases, divorce doesn’t rescue kids it robs them.

Marriage remains the most reliable way we’ve found to provide children with the safety and stability they need to thrive.Image
Bottom line: Divorce isn’t just a decision affecting parents, it’s a life altering event for children.

The impact is real, measurable, and lasting.

We must build a society that puts the well-being of children before the desires of adults.

One where divorce is tragic and rare. Image
Study findings linked here: 👇🏻
nber.org/papers/w33776
Follow along here for more: 👇🏻

open.substack.com/pub/everydayin…

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More from @J_K_Wood

Apr 18
Today is Good Friday—
the day Christ died for us.

But do you know the first person to die FOR Christ?

It wasn’t one of the 12 Disciples.
It was a humble table servant.

And far from silencing the Church,
his death launched it. 🧵 Image
The early Church was small but growing.

They prayed, broke bread, and healed the sick—but they hadn’t been tested by blood.

Only Jesus had died thus far.
But that would soon change. Image
Serving the poor was core to the early Church’s mission.

To help, the 12 Disciples appointed seven men to handle the daily distributions of food to widows in the community.

The first on the list was Stephen, “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 6:5) Image
Read 19 tweets
Apr 11
Joseph Smith claimed to have translated an unreadable Egyptian scroll by the power of God.

100 years later, we learned how to actually read that scroll — thanks to the Rosetta Stone.

What it revealed rocked the global Mormon empire... 🧵 Image
To grasp the weight of what was discovered, you need to understand the rise of Mormonism.

It started with a teenage prophet in the 1820s.

By the 1840s, it was a fast-growing movement with its own cities, scripture, and army. Image
Founder Joseph Smith claimed he had divine visions. He said God restored true Christianity through him.

He gathered thousands of converts, founded new communities, and claimed the power to speak for God.

Then things got serious. Image
Read 19 tweets
Apr 5
In 1877, one secret handshake decided the US presidency, and changed the country forever.

It redrew the map of America, and erased Black political power for a century.

Here's how the Democrats conspired to take back the South, and why we're still living in that shadow... 🧵 Image
After the Civil War, America rewrote the Constitution adding new reconstruction amendments:

The 13th, 14th, & 15th amendment abolished slavery, established citizenship, and granted Black men the vote.

It was the country’s second founding.
And for a moment the promise felt real. Image
By 1870, these new protections were making a real difference. The South sent its first Black Senators and Representatives to Washington.

Over 2,000 Black men held office during the Reconstruction era.

Black political power was finally taking root. Image
Read 20 tweets

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