Family Values

In red states in 2001, there were 572,000 divorces. Blue states recorded 340,000. In the same year, 11 red states had higher rates of divorce than any blue state …

In each of the red states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico, 46.3 percent of all births were to unwed mothers. In blue states, on average, that percentage was 31.7. Delaware has the highest rate of births to teenage mothers among all blue states, yet 17 red states have a higher rate. Of those red states, 15 have at least twice the rate as that of Massachusetts.

There were more than 100 teen pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 in 5 red states in 2002. None of the blue states had rates that high. The rate of teen births declined in 46 states from 1988 to 2000. It climbed in 3 red states and saw no change in another.

The per capita rate of violent crime in red states is 421 per 100,000. In blue states, it’s 372 per 100,000. The per capita rate of murder and non-negligent manslaughter in Louisiana is 13 per 100,000. In Maine, it’s 1.2 per 100,000.

As of 2000, 37 states had statewide policies or procedures to address domestic violence. All 13 that didn’t were red states.

The 5 states with the highest rates of alcohol dependence or abuse are red states. The 5 states with the highest rates of alcohol dependence or abuse among 12- to 17-year-olds are also red states.

The per capita rate of methamphetamine-lab seizures in California is 2 per 100,000. In Arkansas, it’s 20 per 100,000. The number of meth-lab seizures in red states increased by 38 percent from 1999 to 2003. In the same time frame, it decreased by 38 percent in blue states.

Residents of the all-red Mountain States are the most likely to have had 3 or more sexual partners in the previous year. Residents of all-blue New England are the least likely to have had more than 1 partner in that span. Residents of the mid-Atlantic region of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey were the most likely to be sexually abstinent. Residents of the all-red West South Central region (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana) were the least likely.

Five red states reported more than 400 cases of chlamydia per 100,000 residents in 2002. No blue state had a rate that high. The per capita rate of gonorrhea in red states was 140 per 100,000. In blue states, it was 99 per 100,000.