Posted on 11/26/2006 5:02:22 AM PST by shrinkermd
....More American women than ever are putting motherhood before matrimony. New data released by the Centers for Disease Control show that nearly four in 10 U.S. babies were born outside of marriage in 2005—a new high. These unwed moms aren't all teens—last year teen pregnancies fell to their lowest levels in 65 years. Some—like 44-year-old Mary Lee MacKichan, who used a gay friend as a sperm donor—are professional, older women who want to have babies before their biological clocks run out, but most are low-income twentysomethings. (Unwed births among 30- to 44-year-olds are up 17 percent since 1991; among those 25 to 29, they're up 30 percent.) And some 40 percent of those moms aren't going it alone—they're cohabiting, at least for a while. That's creating a major shift in what a generation of children are coming to call a family. "Marriage is still alive and well, but it has a lot of competition," says Wellesley College sociologist Rosanna Hertz, author of "Single by Chance, Mothers by Choice."
Ironically, sociologists say, marriage may be on the decline precisely because it has become so idealized. People expect more from marriage than they did a century ago, when it was mainly a practical arrangement to provide financial stability for women and a place to raise children. "Now it's not only love and romance but also self-fulfillment and personal growth," says Pamela Smock, professor of sociology at the University of Michigan. Since there's no longer much of a stigma attached to getting pregnant outside of marriage, many couples have replaced "shotgun weddings" with "shotgun cohabitations
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
And, it all leads to the decline of a nation!
God will not be mocked!
It's all about them -- what's best for them, not the child.
I wonder. Of all the births to unwed mothers, what percentage of pregnancies are desired (like above) and what percentage are not?
***Some—like 44-year-old Mary Lee MacKichan, who used a gay friend as a sperm donor—are professional, older women who want to have babies before their biological clocks run out*****
She must be an idiot, Did she have unprotected sex with this gay man? Did she just use his sperm and a turkey baster? Has she never heard of AIDS? Is she a Lesbian? Almost any man would have had sex with her and would have been safer than picking a gay man. I pity the poor child.
***People expect more from marriage than they did a century ago, when it was mainly a practical arrangement to provide financial stability for women and a place to raise children. ***
My marriage isnt a century old its merely 44 years. However my wife and I didnt get married as a practical arrangement to provide financial security for her and to raise kids.
If this is why socialogists believe people marry, its no wonder they want to recognise gay marriages. They dont have any idea of what a real marriage is. A marriage is a commitment for life between a man and a woman who love each other. Sometimes they go downhill, but the origianl idea was the commitment for life. Anything else is not a marriage its a business deal.
After the first is on the government dole, she should be sterilized. She wants 'em, she can pay for them.
Amen!!
"I pity the poor child."
Me, too. Any child of a single parent. This case especially, if homosexuality is genetic.
These educated idiots have no clue what it is to raise children without fathers, let alone the energy that a "older" single mother is going to need.
'
For love or money, marriage is here to stay
From the link:
"Having enough money was a common consideration, along with the view that marriage signifies that one is no longer struggling economically, in essence, that marriage comes when one has already achieved a certain economic status," Smock said. "Most commonly, this status includes home ownership, getting out of debt, financial stability and essentially not living paycheck to paycheck."
Smock and Manning also found that having enough money to afford a "real" wedding was a concern for many cohabitors. Going downtown to the courthouse is not considered a real wedding, Smock noted. Some of the couples interviewed said they were delaying marriage until they could afford a church wedding and reception, and many expected they would need to pay for their weddings themselves—without help from their parents.
If this is the case, it sounds to me like it's not about idealizing marriage, but materializing marriage. And if that's true, there's nothing idealistic about that.
These single 'career women' should get a freaking pet. That's all they really want anyway.
The whole point of them having children before marriage, is about power. When she does marry, the future husband begins his marriage in second place behind her child.
Secondly, the first child tends to be very abusive of any half-siblings that arrive later.
Actually, it sound like an excuse.
If the woman said no moving in until they're married, they'd find a way. If the woman said no sex until they're married, they'd find a way.
I hate to put it all on the woman, but that's where it is, like it or not. As Bill Cosby once said, "The baby's the fault of the one who last had it."
I'll bet you'd get vastly different answers from the mothers and the boys (yes, boys, not men) that got them pregnant.
The scary thing is, this is the what will really push America down the road to socialism.
It is extremely difficult to raise a child alone, and these women will demand the government fill the traditional place of the husband. Aided and abetted by pathetic stories in the MSM.
Norplant and saltpeter the water supply!
Question: What hath the Feminazi wrought?
Answer: A nation of self-centered sluts.
I would suppose that some marriages are materialistic.
Mine wasnt and isnt. Neither of us had much of anything when we were married except youth and love.
Now we have lost our youth, but the love remains.perhaps more so than ever.
and consider that caucasians are not having enough kids to replace themselves.
lets hear it for 'modern woman'
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.