The Success Sequence

Steps for Success

According to the Institute for Family Studies, only 3% of people end up living in poverty if they do these three things: 

    1.     Get a high school diploma. 
    2.     Maintain a full-time job. 
    3.     And wait until marriage to have kids. 

This leads to a 97% chance of living free from poverty.

For more information about the success sequence, visit the Institute for Family Studies. 

See this fact sheet for an overview of useful information and helpful resources.

For a concise look at how the Success Sequence can help disadvantaged young adults, click here.

This content is available in our J4G Magazine. We encourage you to order some to have on hand or use in your pro-life activities. To order copies of J4G, click here. 

Sources:

  1. Wang, Wendy, and W. Bradford Wilcox. "The Millennial Success Sequence: Marriage, Kids, and the "Success Sequence" among Young Adults." Institute for Family Studies with The American Enterprise Institute, 2017,

    https://aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/IFS-MillennialSuccessSequence-Final.pdf. Accessed 18 December 2025.