I think you have a bit of a selection bias going on here Diklik - of all the families that are troubled, a majority are single-family. That does NOT mean that single families "never do as well". What it means is that it's HARDER to raise kids on your own, which is not surprising, there are half as many of you after all! But - I know many great one-parent kids who have done just as well as everyone else - their parent just had to work really fucking hard, and did!
I agree that it's not the ideal to raise a family with one too few parents - but that does NOT mean that there are not many many great one-parent families! It's not ideal to raise kids in slums, but many good kids come out of slums - I share an office with one - he pulled himself up by his boot straps and got his ass into college and got himself a degree and a masters, and a good pensionable job. Similarly - it is not ideal to raise a kid with a parent missing, but many great kids have come out of one parent families. Lets not tar all one-parent families with the under-achieving brush please, or indeed with the dysfunctional brush!
What I think we are all agreeing on is that the notion of getting married with the express intention of getting divorced is repugnant. It is not OK to ruin the lives of some poor woman just so you can have kids, and it is not OK to bring kids into the world with the express intention of breaking up their family!
B.