Private Choices, Public Costs: How failing families cost us all

http://www.imfcanada.org/article_files/Cost%20of%20Family%20Breakdown%20finalHR.pdf

This report measures the cost of family breakdown to the public purse in Canada for the fiscal year 2005-2006. It estimates the funding directed at poverty alleviation due to family breakdown. The results show the cost of serving broken families is almost $7 billion annually. If we were able to cut family breakdown in half, we would save $1.78 billion annually. $1.78 billion is not half of $7 billion because we assume that if 50 percent fewer families were broken, about 50 percent of those would still remain in poverty. These are very conservative estimates, based upon very realistic measuresof what could result if family stability were to improve.