Numbers don’t always tell the entire story, but they can still reveal a whole lot.

New data released yesterday from the U.S. Census Bureau shows why so many American children and families are struggling, and why more government handouts won’t do much to help.

According to the “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2022” report, just 47% of American households contain a married mother and father. Back in 1970, 71% of homes were headed by a married couple.

Breaking the percentages into an actual number of families, there are 80 million “family households” in the U.S. The Census data reveals 15 million of them are headed by single mothers and six million by single fathers.

Study after study continues to confirm that children fare better in every aspect of life when they grow up with a married mother and father.

Conversely, boys and girls reared in single-parent households are more likely to suffer from depression, struggle academically and socially, marry later, and see their chance of divorce rise significantly.

University of Virginia professor Dr. Brad Wilcox, author of Get Married, writes:

“Marital quality is, far and away, the top predictor I have run across of life satisfaction in America. Specifically, the odds that men and women say they are ‘very happy’ with their lives are a staggering 545 percent higher …”

The joint law enforcement action “Operation HOPE” has led to the recovery of 32 sex trafficking victims in Arkansas.

According to a May 20 press release from the Arkansas Department of Public Safety (ADP), 25 local victims were identified as part of Operation Help and Opportunity to Prevent Exploitation (HOPE) while an additional seven women, believed to be victims of human trafficking, were offered support.

“Arkansas State Police (ASP) and members of the Arkansas Human Trafficking Council conducted the recovery operation over a single day, offering victims services such as food, lodging, on-site medical services, counseling, therapy, and drug rehabilitation,” ADP noted.

The operation was conducted in Hot Springs earlier this month.

“These concerted efforts will significantly contribute to making Arkansas a place where human trafficking is not tolerated,” said ASP Director Colonel Mike Hagar.

“The dedicated law enforcement community in Arkansas is fully committed to approaching the grim reality of human trafficking with empathy, aiming to rescue victims from the shadows and provide them with the support and care they need to recover.”

ADP notes “Leading up to the operation, three children and one adult were removed from exploitative, vulnerable, and unstable situations. All minors were taken into protective custody, and the adult received victim services.”

What does it say about our collective perceptions of dating and marriage that being a virgin is interesting enough to anchor an entire TV show?

Well, folks — Hulu’s upcoming dating show Virgin Island will feature “stunningly attractive and confident” virgins looking to find a fellow attractive virgin with which to dispose of said virginity.

Submit your application here!

In all seriousness, the premise of the show is icky.

At bare minimum, it commodifies and trivializes something God intended to be holy — choosing to forego casual sex in favor of sex within the bonds of marriages.

But showrunners aren’t interested in filming a group of “stunningly attractive and confident” virgins conversing about the benefits of being abstinent. They want to bring together a bunch of virgins interested in losing their virginity!

See? Icky! And really nothing new.

The creators of Virgin Island seemed to have decided that virginity is more interesting than the contrived debauchery of predecessors like The Bachelor. But the show seems to be set up around the idea that innocence is fun to corrupt.

I dislike the air of gleeful manipulation inherent in this concept, and the underlying assumption that choosing sexual abstinence makes you a bumpkin, a target or a member of a cult — something one needs to “get over.”

Bette Nash, age 88, who holds the Guinness World Record for the longest serving flight attendant, has died.

Nicknamed “Nash Dash,” the legendary American Airlines employee began her career in 1957. She was just 21 years old.

She never retired, continuing to fly until a breast cancer diagnosis landed her in hospice.

Bette decided as a young girl that she wanted to work for the airlines, borrowed a dress from one of her sisters, and took a bus from Atlantic City to New York to interview with Eastern Airlines.

According to American Airlines, Nash “fell in love with ‘the spiffy appearances and gracious manners of the crew members.’”

As a more senior member of the airline, Bette Nash had plenty of opportunities to work exotic routes, but she chose to be based out of Washington, D.C., and work the shuttle flights to New York and Boston.

Why?

Bette Nash’s son, Christian, who survives her, has Down syndrome.

Waking at 2:10 a.m. each day, the schedule allowed her to be home with her family every night for dinner and care for Christian.

Maybe it’s not surprising, then, that Bette said her most memorable passenger wasn’t Jackie Kennedy or countless other celebrities who flew the shuttles over the years.