Ohio is below average in family rankings, according to a recent report that measures family strength and stability across all 50 states. But two top elected officials in the Buckeye State say promoting fatherhood and lowering the tax burden could help improve the situation. Last month, the Center for Christian Virtue released its 2026 Family Structure Index. The report analyzes how different states compare in promoting families. Ohio ranked 30th, coming in below the national average. It earned an index score of 87.2, which was far below top-ranked Utah, at 102.6, but way ahead of last-place New Mexico, at 78.4. The index tracks marriage as one indicator of family stability. For example, 60.9% of Ohio teens have married parents, compared to 77.2% in Utah. In New Mexico, just 52.5% of teens have parents with marriages intact. Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer, an Ohio resident himself, told The Daily Signal that strong families produce strong states, and strong states produce a strong country. “As the family goes, so goes Ohio, and so goes the nation. [That] is really the point here,” he said. Baer said the family is 80% a culture issue and 20% a public policy issue. On the policy side, the Center for Christian Virtue’s report ties family well-being to such issues such as education and entitlement programs. “The public schools are forming children to devalue marriage and kids,” Baer said, adding that it’s “a real problem.” As for entitlement programs, Baer noted they are a top area of government spending. Moreover, it’s hard to get families off of entitlements. The solution, he said, is to build strong families so they don’t need entitlements. Strong Families = Strong State This jumps off the pages of @CCVPolicy & @FamStudies 2026 Family Structure Index. Check out https://t.co/ruvKJaqnLO to find your state's ranking & @BradWilcoxIFS perspective on how strong families are connected with growth.A few key lessons pic.twitter.com/DyG0LuCthE— Aaron Baer (@aarbaer) April 7, 2026 Two top lawmakers from Ohio pointed to other issues vital to building up the family. U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, an Ohio Republican, played a role in passing the Working Family Tax Cut Plan, which includes a $2,200 child tax credit. The senator told The Daily Signal that the tax credit helps with family formation and gives parents more resources for raising children. “Anything we can do to help parents make ends meet by supporting their family and how they raise their children is an important part of making stronger families,” Husted said. “We know that financial stress is a leading indicator for divorce and family disillusion. … That’s why the Working Family Tax Cut plan was such an important part of supporting our families,” he added. The Ohio Legislature has crafted other pro-family policies, such as the Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. “[We wanted] to really make a critical investment in ensuring that youth across the state of Ohio have the best chance possible to grow up with a father figure in their lives,” Ohio Senate President Rob McColley told The Daily Signal. That initiative included an appropriation of $25 million to support organizations with a track record of developing young men into responsible fathers. One such group is Tony Dungy’s All Pro Dad, a charitable fatherhood program of Family First. Watch the full press conference—including Chris’ remarks—on Ohio’s Responsible Fatherhood Initiative: https://t.co/rBluvl40rq https://t.co/KQhEzXAtcY— Center for Christian Virtue (@CCVPolicy) June 20, 2025 McColley said such fatherhood initiatives can help Ohio improve in the rankings. “Where you spend your money is oftentimes where you can point to your priorities,” he said, adding that people have not always been willing to discuss fatherlessness and its impact. “I think we can’t be afraid to have these tough conversations because our children really are relying on us to line up state policy with a pro-family lens that we can lean into,” McColley said. “… We’re trying to make it more likely that our youth are growing up in a house with two parents, or at least with both parents involved with their lives.” According to Baer, it’s noteworthy that the two states at the top of the Family Structure Index, Utah and Idaho, have “strong religious cultures” and low taxes and entitlement spending. It’s not that lawmakers are more willing to cut taxes in Utah than in Ohio, Baer argued, but that Utah can do so when they don’t have so many people on entitlements. “Government’s going to be a little bigger here [in Ohio] because we have more issues to deal with,” Baer said.