Posted on 10/28/2005 11:58:41 AM PDT by mlc9852
WASHINGTON - Nearly 1.5 million babies, a record, were born to unmarried women in the United States last year, the government reported Friday. And it isn't just teenagers any more. ADVERTISEMENT [0]
"People have the impression that teens and unmarried mothers are synonymous," said Stephanie Ventura of the National Center for Health Statistics.
But last year teens accounted for just 24 percent of unwed births, down from 50 percent in 1970, she commented.
The increases in unmarried births have been among women in their 20s, she said, particularly those 25 to 29.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
In the New York area the overwhelming majority of unwed mothers are black and native-born Latino (Nuyoricans and Dominicanyorks, not Mexicans), with black women by far the largest group. Here in Washington State, however, I see alot of blue collar and below white women with three different fathers, often of different races.
It all makes my head spin!
The reason for that is because many "middle class" white folks move out of the city once they're married and have kids.
Here's another option that people should consider: Adoption.
Don't know about Ireland, where 40% of births are to unwed mothers. Any Irish Freepers care to comment?
"I see alot of blue collar and below white women with three different fathers, often of different races."
Makes you wonder what their families were like.
So when you look around and think to yourself, "Wow, there are a lot of bastards out there," you're not just imagining it. It's true.
I don't like that word. It isn't the children's fault.
Any theories as to why Italians, Spaniards and Austrians have birth rates well below replacement level?
What's adoption have to do with it?
I have to get to the bus stop to get my little girl. bbl
"There have been children born out of wedlock since there have been two sexes."
And this makes it right because....? More to today's point: It used to be RARE. Now it is becoming COMMONPLACE. Some of us think that's a bad thing.
"Why brand the innocent children as bastards?"
It's not a "brand," it's what they are; it's descriptive.
"That's harsh."
Of course it is. And it's probably even judgemental. But it might make some of these illegitimate kids grow up and want to do the right thing, in defiance of their irresponsible parents, and get married themselves before they have kids.
economics. people have as many children as they can afford.
But it still amazes me how "lower class" (in terms of mores rather than income, think Joey Buttafuoco) or blue collar folks in the northeast don't seem to have the illegitimacy thing going on like their counterparts in the Northwest do.
Ping!
"It beats a probe sucking their brains out in the womb."
Reading is your friend (this is from my post 6): "Since I have backed into this subject before on FR, and had to deal with serious hysterical incoming, let me make clear what I'm saying and what I'm not saying. I am NOT saying that these children should have been aborted, for God's sake."
For everyone who's jumping on the better-than-abortion argument...folks, this is not about abortion. Reset your defaults.
living is a lot more expensive in the Northeast. You can live on $25k in Washington or Oregon. If you're making $25k in Babylon Longisland, then you're scraping bottom.
Try this experiment: Put on a suit and go out to some chain restaurant's bar in the burbs on a saturday night. The divorced moms are aggressive to a disturbing degree. It's a freak show the likes of which you won't see anywhere in NYC.
Oddly enough there are several such cases in my family. None of whom have been together for less than ten years (and a couple over thirty years with their kids in college already), none have ever split up despite never getting that State sanction paper and all have the complete trappings of any other married couple. In most cases, they just never got around to it and after many years, it did not matter any more. When you get right down to it, that little piece of paper is pretty immaterial as to whether or not there is a good family environment. It used to be scandalous many years ago in kind of kneejerk fashion, but few people seem to care any more. All that matters is the quality of the people and the quality of the relationship, and getting married does not change that part in any substantive way.
You are way out of line. It's absolute positions like yours that make freerepublic a worse place than it should be.
True, but some of it may be vestiges of the rather quaint "blue collar Catholic" culture, similar to many of the folks I grew up around. I think its both an economic and cultural thing.
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