DOVER — Economist Scott Moody believes the devaluation of marriage through same-sex marriage will eventually ensure a population in New Hampshire where the shrinking, younger generation will no longer be able to support the state's economy.



"At this point, marriage no longer has any meaning," said Moody.



During a Foster's Daily Democrat editorial board meeting on Tuesday, Moody, a member of the leadership and staff team with Cornerstone Policy Research, explained this concern, among other underlying concerns, that may be solved with the passage of HB 437.



The bill currently before the New Hampshire Legislature would repeal the state's same-sex marriage law.



According to Moody, several concerns relating to children's rights and demographics have risen in the last several years. These concerns could be alleviated if the proposed bill to be discussed in February is passed.



The first concern revolves around the devaluation of marriage in general and how this growing trend is affecting the economy and children.



According to data provided by Moody from the Internal Revenue Service, the number of marriage tax returns as a percent of all tax returns filed in the country in 2009 fell 2.2 percent compared with those from 1997.



In New Hampshire, the number of marriage tax returns fell by 1.5 percent. Moody correlated this drop in marriage in both the state and nation to what he called the general devaluation of marriage within our culture.



According to Moody, New Hampshire is the easiest state in which to finalize a divorce, which he said possibly stems from the population's lack of value and faith in the institution of marriage.



Combined with what he said was with the general movement of younger people focusing more on the individual rather than the family, the central cultural tenet of marrying and raising a family has become, for many, a way of the past, he claims.



Allowing same-sex marriage in the state further devalues marriage, taking that traditional image of a man and a wife in a marriage to procreate and sustain their community and making it more of a shell of a tradition, according to Moody. This chipping away of the traditional image of marriage is having an effect on the state and the nation's younger generation. According to Moody, one of the main reasons for marriage is for a man and a woman to bear children. With fewer traditional marriages, the number of children born declines as a result, Moody claims. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau, provided by Moody, the number of births in New Hampshire declined by around 4,000 between the years 1991 and July 1, 2011. He asserts same-sex couples are physically unable to produce children and must therefore adopt. According to Moody, every same-sex marriage has a net child capacity of zero, meaning each same-sex married couple does not contribute to their community's population as would a heterosexual couple. They may adopt, but this does not equate to producing their own children, according to Moody. This documented decline in births, according to Moody, will have a large impact on the state's economy. According to data provided by Moody from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau, since 2004 New Hampshire has seen a noticeable decline — approximately 8 percent — in children younger than the age of 18 living in the Granite State. The younger generation spurs the economy, according to Moody: they spend money and money is spent on them. Not only this, but those children younger than 18 years old will eventually take the reins of the economy from their parents However, with fewer individuals to take the reins, the state runs the risk of not having the necessary younger generational support for the rest of the aging population. Moody categorized this general occurrence in population as a demographic winter. Along with the possibility of preventing a demographic winter in the state, the repeal of same-sex marriage in the state would also helping prevent some fundamental changes to the country's legal system. Moody said that by allowing same-sex marriage in the state, the methods for handling court cases involving biological parents and their children is now thrown out the window because with same-sex couples, one or both of the individuals may not be the child's biological parents and could be linked by nothing but an adoption certificate. Also, according to Moody, when same-sex couples adopt, they place the child in a situation where one or both of their parents isn't their biological parent. However, according to Moody, statistics have shown that a relationship with a stepparent is not the same as a relationship with a biological parent and stepparents tend to not have the same bond or pay the same attention as the biological parent. Moody did not provide charts or actual sources for this claim. Moody described the above situation by comparing two different family situations. The first family is between a married man and a woman with children. The family shares one budget and combines their earnings. They raise their children in a traditional way. The second family is a combination of two divorced individuals who each bring a child into the marriage. Although they, too, share one budget and combine their earnings, each individual is raising one biological child and another child connected through nothing else but circumstance. They love this child of circumstance but the connection and attention given to that child is different from attention given to a biological child, Moody asserts. The second family is similar to how a same-sex couple raises an adoptive child whose only connection to the couple is through a piece of paper. Moody's argument in favor of repealing same-sex marriage in the state remained relatively free of faith and morality based assertions, though he did admit those beliefs were still very much rooted within the foundation of the repealment of the same sex-marriage law in New Hampshire and across the nation. According to Moody, there all of a sudden seems to be a cultural movement toward same-sex marriage. However, many states, some considered even more liberal than New Hampshire, have repealed the law when given the chance, most notably, he said, Maine. Moody said even in New Hampshire, the same-sex marriage law passed by one vote and was signed into law by a governor he claimed never failed to flip-flop on the issue when discussed. Moody said the current repeal legislation, if passed, would keep all current same-sex marriages intact, but would prevent any more from being legalized. Same-sex couples could be joined together by a civil union. Moody said there were distinct legal differences between a marriage and a civil union, but didn't explain those differences. He did say couples joined together by a civil union, by default, had a more difficult time adopting children than married couples, since, he claims, marriage is generally considered a more stable environment for raising a child.