There's a family-values divide between red states and blue states, two researchers say, but the differences might surprise people on both sides of the political spectrum.
The states that voted Democratic in the last two presidential elections have the lowest rates of divorce and teen pregnancies.
And the red states had the highest.
One of those researchers, June Carbone of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, tells host Guy Raz what she thinks is the deciding factor:
Women in blue states wait later to get married and have kids.
TRANSCRIPT:
GUY RAZ, host:
We're back with ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Guy Raz.
Back during the 2008 presidential campaign, Sarah Palin visited a small town in North Carolina, a place she called the real America.
(Soundbite of applause)
Ms. SARAH PALIN (Former Republican Governor, Alaska): We believe that the best of America is in the small towns that we get to visit and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call real America, being here with all of you hardworking, very patriotic, very pro-America.
RAZ: The real America was a kind of code phrase for parts of the country where people preach family values and respect the institution of marriage.
{b}But somehow, it's unlikely Sarah Palin was referring to Massachusetts or New Jersey.
And yet according to a new book, the states with the lowest rates of divorce and teen pregnancies are so-called blue states like Massachusetts, states that voted Democratic in 2004 and 2008.
The book is "Red Families v. Blue Families" and its co-author, June Carbone, a professor of law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, is with me.
Welcome.
Professor JUNE CARBONE (Co-Author, "Red Families v. Blue Families): Delighted to be here.
RAZ: In the book, you talk about the blue family system and the red family systems. Define the terms here. What's the blue family system, and what's the red family system?
Prof. CARBONE: The single biggest difference between the two is the notion of age of marriage or childbearing.
We see this blue system as one that says grow up first, be established, be financially sound, then have a family.
The red family system says it's very important to avoid too much premarital sexuality.
So you're going to move lockstep from school into employment and marriage fairly soon.
You're not going to wait until you're fully established. You're going to get married and have children younger.
RAZ: And now, you found that the lowest divorce rates in the country tend to be in blue states. The highest divorce rates tend to be in states that voted - so-called red states that voted Republican in 2004, 2008.
I think a lot of people would be surprised by that. It seems to suggest that places that are more politically left of center tend to reflect what we might regard as having more traditional family values.
Prof. CARBONE: We were astonished to find how closely the vote, especially in 2004, to a strong degree in 2008, maps on to family structure. Here's the thing that's happened in the blue world. What you have is, again, a system, far more independence. And we find that people who do marry later late 20s, early 30s you've got a pretty good sense who's going to be successful and stable and a good marriage partner at 30. You're still guessing at 22...
There is some baiting going on. It needs to stop. Dial it back please.
