This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Tuesday, May 15th, 2018.

I'm Keelip Brown.

The so-called Sequence for Success is the idea that if a young person graduates from high school gets a job and

avoids having children before marriage staying out of poverty is

virtually assured. But how true is that idea? Cato's Michael Tanner writes in

the most recent edition of Cato Unbound that the sequence

for success idea must contend with some realities.

We spoke last week.

The sequence for success, the idea that if you graduate high school, if you get married, if you delay child bearing until after marriage.

And if you have a job, that these are essentially

extremely predictive of your ability to have a decent life. So when social scientists look at this, what, you know,

where do the, where are the battle lines drawn on that notion? Well there's certainly a robust statistical

relationship at least a correlation between things like having a job, finishing

school, delaying childbirth until after you're married, and staying out of poverty.

In fact, the chances of you're reaching the middle class are fairly strong statistically,

if that happens, and it also a certain amount of common sense to it.

Obviously if you don't have a job or if you don't finish school you're less likely to get a good paying

job.

If you have a child and you're not married you're going to encounter problems.

Two incomes after all are better than one.

You know, you have a single mothers face child care problems.

Employers, consciously or unconsciously, or less likely to hire women with

...