In the mid-twentieth century, marital status determined eligibility for a growing slate of public benefits. The assumption was that husbands and wives were interdependent, and the state stepped in to encourage their mutual support or replace it once that support was gone. For instance, by offering widows Social Security benefits, the state effectively filled in for a lost breadwinner. In a society where matrimony was ubiquitous, marital status was an easy way to decide who got public assistance. But the landscape has drastically changed. Marriage rates have plummeted, particularly among less
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