Did Eric Hovde say single parenthood leads to poverty and drug addiction?
Running for U.S. Senate in 2012, Wisconsin Republican Eric Hovde lamented the number of children "born out of wedlock," saying it is "a direct path to a life of poverty. There’s been numerous studies that show that it leads to higher drug rates.”
Hovde is running against U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., in November 2024.
A Baldwin ad excerpted Hovde's comments and claimed he "thinks if you have a single mom, you're going to be poor or a drug addict."
Hovde’s campaign said that’s not what Hovde thinks and that he was alluding to federal data showing single-parent households linked to poverty and drug abuse.
Studies show a correlation between single-parent families and poverty and adolescent drug abuse.
Higher-income people are much more likely to marry, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
