WHEREAS, The family is one of only three institutions which God established and is the foundation of the other two God-ordained institutions which are the church and the civil magistrate; and
WHEREAS, Strong families are a vital part of a moral society; and
WHEREAS, Government policies which have neglected and punished the institution of the family are a significant factor in the moral decay of American society; and
WHEREAS, In 1950 the average American family with children paid only two percent of its annual income in federal payroll and income taxes, today that same family pays approximately 24 percent in federal taxes; and
WHEREAS, Much of the income of employed mothers in two-income families goes to pay the family’s tax burden; and
WHEREAS, Public opinion polls demonstrate that many mothers would choose to stay at home with their small children if the family could afford to do so; and
WHEREAS, Recent studies have shown that the amount of time parents spend with their children has dropped 40 percent in the last 25 years; and
WHEREAS, If the current $2,000 per dependent child exemption has been properly adjusted for inflation over the last forty years it would amount to more than $6,000 for each child; and
WHEREAS, Current tax law discourages parental child-rearing by providing tax incentives to parents with child care expenses, no matter how wealthy those parents are; and
WHEREAS, Current tax law provides better savings incentives for most two- income families by allowing those families to have $4,000 in tax-deductible contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) while most traditional one-income families may only make $2,250 in yearly tax deductible contributions to IRAs; and
WHEREAS, Public policy should provide incentives which promote stable marriages and parental child-rearing, recognizing that these policies will contribute to a better society; Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, June 4-6, 1991, call on the Congress and the President to adopt policies which encourage the establishment and development of strong families by eliminating all discrimination in the tax code against the traditional family and reducing the federal tax liability on families with children.