Permanent Caste System

Conservative columnist Mona Charen, writing for RealClearPolitics, makes some interesting points about the failure of heterosexual marriage, particularly among the less educated. I was struck by her two concluding paragraphs; it is rare but refreshing to find someone willing to talk about social class in the U.S.

Since income and education are so closely linked, the outlines of a permanent caste system become visible, with the educated raising children who have the tools to become successful themselves and the poor and lower middle class continuing to give birth under circumstances that virtually condemn their children to poverty.

Much has been made by Democrats of the increasing inequality of income distribution in America. That inequality is real. But it's not the result of tax cuts. It's an artifact of family structure. And unless we find a way to discourage unwed childbearing and revive marriage, the chasm between classes will continue to grow.

A part of this separation nobody talks about is that "the educated" are increasingly educating their own children outside the public K-12 school system.