Posted on 02/18/2012 5:00:14 AM PST by reaganaut1
LORAIN, Ohio It used to be called illegitimacy. Now it is the new normal. After steadily rising for five decades, the share of children born to unmarried women has crossed a threshold: more than half of births to American women under 30 occur outside marriage.
Once largely limited to poor women and minorities, motherhood without marriage has settled deeply into middle America. The fastest growth in the last two decades has occurred among white women in their 20s who have some college education but no four-year degree, according to Child Trends, a Washington research group that analyzed government data.
Among mothers of all ages, a majority 59 percent in 2009 are married when they have children. But the surge of births outside marriage among younger women nearly two-thirds of children in the United States are born to mothers under 30 is both a symbol of the transforming family and a hint of coming generational change.
One group still largely resists the trend: college graduates, who overwhelmingly marry before having children. That is turning family structure into a new class divide, with the economic and social rewards of marriage increasingly reserved for people with the most education.
Marriage has become a luxury good, said Frank Furstenberg, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania.
The shift is affecting childrens lives. Researchers have consistently found that children born outside marriage face elevated risks of falling into poverty, failing in school or suffering emotional and behavioral problems.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I agree. As a man, I subscribe to the “men are basically pigs” theory. Not that they should be or have to behave as pigs, but just that we naturally are pigs when left to our own devices.
Paternal western societies were civilized by the influence of women who demanded more from men than being pigs. They did this 2 ways. First, mothers tried to instill some sense of honor and restraint and chivalry by raising them right, with a lot of help from priests and the church to give us a solid moral compass. Then, wives and girlfriends demanded a minimum of moral, respectful behavior from us.
Today, too many children get their morals, or lack thereof, from government schools, and too many wives and girlfriends don’t punish their mates for being pigs.
I’m not trying to give us men a pass and saying we are off the hook for being pigs, I’m just saying that women were the enforcers of moral behavior and restraint and as they do so less, modern men are taking advantage of the relaxing of rules.
I myself was raised to be polite and respectful to the point that I make other sick being over polite and most women I know still call me a “gentleman”. I don’t hear that so much anymore but I haven’t changed from the man who used to hear that continually in the 80s.
I like to think I am not part of the problem, and a lot of religious conservative men probably are not. But I still believe that women have the unfortunate responsibility to civilize societies because when they don’t, it just doesn’t get done.
I know that many women have gotten the worst of a divorce, but the stats show that around 70% of divorces are initiated by women, they usually get custody and child support, and are more likely to get alimony.
And she is worse than a prostitute in many ways. A hooker knows what she is.
Odd, that's how women were treated for ages. Now the tables are turned.
Stop paying. No more Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Food Stamps or Free Medical Care. No rent assistance. No Transportation assistance. No more free cell phones.
Problem solved.
Oh wait. I wonder if we can build a political majority to get this done.
Date ONLY single women with no children, and a job.
Horse feathers. The majority of American men throughout history have not treated women like that.
I thank God that my fiancee does not subscribe to your view.
leftists call this a success
they cheerlead America’s fall
Hmmm. Something missing here: abortions per state. Births are only part of (and maybe the lesser part) of the unwed pregnancy story. It would be interesting to see the % of births AND ABORTIONS to unwed mothers. It would be interesting to see how the states would be reshuffled after that. I have a feeling that would knock Washington, Mass, and probably others down to a lower tier.
Sadness. Jesus can't come soon enough either in the person of the Holy Spirit to change the culture or in person to begin the permanent change (more likely I think).
Your husband is a very lucky fellow. I hope he knows how lucky he is. We have a tendency sometimes to take certain treasures for granted until they are taken away from us.
For some reason that is it hard to find. But another comparison you might like is here: http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/Statistical_Correlations.html
However, that's not the whole story is it, because the subject here is actually unwed pregnancies.
The rest of the story would be the % of births AND ABORTIONS among whites.
It also would be interesting to see if there were any area where the higher % of births corresponded to a lower % of abortions.
Either way, it's a sad picture. I would venture a guess that if you include abortions (which you MUST include for an honest evaluation), you'd be around 50% or higher for whites.
It already is if you include abortions which you MUST to make this an honest evaluation the problem which is unwed PREGNANCIES.
#1, Why buy the pig when all you want is some sausage?
#2, If a single woman gets pregnant, she gets free everything. If she chooses to marry while pregnant, she loses all that “free” government aid. So, it’s simple, get married well after having the kid so that you don’t lose your government handouts. I see it very often.
A nickel will also be effective.
19.6%-34.3% is LOW????
You want to stop this, first thing you need to do is comprehend that it is an economic problem: We need to once again make it both economically feasible and socially acceptable for people to marry and start families in their late teens or early twenties which is what the human race is biologically programmed for.
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I can't believe I'm pinging an article from the NYT, but the important stuff is the comments on the thread. Well worth reading and considering. I agree with most of them, espeically the one about "running on fumes" and which kind of landing we'll have.
Those are stunning statics for unwed mothers and teen pregnancies. Interesting the nations who claim the most sexual freedom are those with the most pregnancies for teens...
I also found interesting nothing to speak of is mentioned about the fathers in this article. There was an article written about men saying they will never speak out against abortion or contraceptives....for the most part these give them “permission” to engage when they desire to do so. Therefore it’s an unspoken agreement that few will speak against it....and why should they?
BTW I recently read an article that Russia now has “drop box’s” for mothers who don’t want their babies can drop them off in these “incubaters”. Russia has the opposite problem in that woman aren’t having children....they actually have a campaign now to get family’s to have have sex more often!
The world is upside down!!!!!
Indeed...and the fathers of course are in agreement for it releases them from bettering their own lot in life....why bother if the gov. is porviding.
This is all going to lead to government control of children down the road.
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