"A social catastrophe"

[Rated R Superstar]

A front-page New York Times article put an exclamation point on a decades-long trend when it reported that more than half of births to mothers under age 30 now occur out of wedlock.

We are casting aside the institution of marriage and with it the notion that children should be raised in stable two-parent families. This is a social catastrophe.

The benchmark for discussions of illegitimacy is always the controversial 1965 report on the perilous state of the black family.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2107496,00.html

The rest is behind a paywall, unfortunately as one has to be a subscriber with Time to read the entire piece

Here is an excerpt from the NYT piece:

Almost all of the rise in nonmarital births has occurred among couples living together. While in some countries such relationships endure at rates that resemble marriages, in the United States they are more than twice as likely to dissolve than marriages. In a summary of research, Pamela Smock and Fiona Rose Greenland, both of the University of Michigan, reported that two-thirds of couples living together split up by the time their child turned 10.

In Lorain as elsewhere, explanations for marital decline start with home economics: men are worth less than they used to be. Among men with some college but no degrees, earnings have fallen 8 percent in the past 30 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while the earnings of their female counterparts have risen by 8 percent.

“Women used to rely on men, but we don’t need to anymore,” said Teresa Fragoso, 25, a single mother in Lorain. “We support ourselves. We support our kids.”

Reviewing the academic literature, Susan L. Brown of Bowling Green State University recently found that children born to married couples, on average, “experience better education, social, cognitive and behavioral outcomes.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/u...cur-outside-marriage.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

 

[JAG89]

A front-page New York Times article put an exclamation point on a decades-long trend when it reported that more than half of births to mothers under age 30 now occur out of wedlock.

We are casting aside the institution of marriage and with it the notion that children should be raised in stable two-parent families. This is a social catastrophe.

The benchmark for discussions of illegitimacy is always the controversial 1965 report on the perilous state of the black family.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...107496,00.html

The rest is behind a paywall, unfortunately as one has to be a subscriber with Time to read the entire piece

Here is an excerpt from the NYT piece:

Almost all of the rise in nonmarital births has occurred among couples living together. While in some countries such relationships endure at rates that resemble marriages, in the United States they are more than twice as likely to dissolve than marriages. In a summary of research, Pamela Smock and Fiona Rose Greenland, both of the University of Michigan, reported that two-thirds of couples living together split up by the time their child turned 10.

In Lorain as elsewhere, explanations for marital decline start with home economics: men are worth less than they used to be. Among men with some college but no degrees, earnings have fallen 8 percent in the past 30 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while the earnings of their female counterparts have risen by 8 percent.

“Women used to rely on men, but we don’t need to anymore,â€￾ said Teresa Fragoso, 25, a single mother in Lorain. “We support ourselves. We support our kids.â€￾

Reviewing the academic literature, Susan L. Brown of Bowling Green State University recently found that children born to married couples, on average, “experience better education, social, cognitive and behavioral outcomes.â€￾
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/us...pagewanted=all[/QUOTE]

The problem is two parent households are no longer stable. Domestic violence is at an all-time high. Not to say it's the best situation, but I rather raise my son as a single father with joint and shared custody than live with his mother in a violent marriage/relationship. His mother gave me good reason not to marry her a long time ago. You shouldn't have to live with someone who feel as if they can telephone you on the job and cuss you out whenever they want to just because they had a child for you. Any man or woman that put up with that kind of crap is crazy to me.

 

[CEE DOG]

Why is that folks who write these articles never point out the fact in 1960 there were few women who had white collar corp jobs or for that fact high paying jobs period. They also fail to point out the divorce rate was lower because families depended on two incomes to make it doing that time. They also fail to point out parents kind of made you marry when someone got pregnant, one of the reasons we have dysfunctional relationships and negative views toward marriage.

 

[PVSAX99]

smh

 

[JAG89]

Why is that folks who write these articles never point out the fact in 1960 there were few women who had white collar corp jobs or for that fact high paying jobs period. They also fail to point out the divorce rate was lower because families depended on two incomes to make it doing that time. They also fail to point out parents kind of made you marry when someone got pregnant, one of the reasons we have dysfunctional relationships and negative views toward marriage.

Because the folks that write these type of articles live in a box and think everyone else should live like them.

 

[Kendrick]

Why is that folks who write these articles never point out the fact in 1960 there were few women who had white collar corp jobs or for that fact high paying jobs period.

It says that here, I think:

In Lorain as elsewhere, explanations for marital decline start with home economics: men are worth less than they used to be. Among men with some college but no degrees, earnings have fallen 8 percent in the past 30 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while the earnings of their female counterparts have risen by 8 percent.

They also fail to point out the divorce rate was lower because families depended on two incomes to make it doing that time.

This woman says that:

“Women used to rely on men, but we don’t need to anymore,â€￾ said Teresa Fragoso, 25, a single mother in Lorain. “We support ourselves. We support our kids.

They also fail to point out parents kind of made you marry when someone got pregnant, one of the reasons we have dysfunctional relationships and negative views toward marriage.

That is also broached here as well:

Fifty years ago, researchers have found, as many as a third of American marriages were precipitated by a pregnancy, with couples marrying to maintain respectability. Ms. Strader’s mother was among them.

Today, neither of Ms. Strader’s pregnancies left her thinking she should marry to avoid stigma. Like other women interviewed here, she described her children as largely unplanned, a byproduct of uncommitted relationships.

I wouldn't call this a catastrophe, but something to consider.

 

[PVSAX99]

<sarcasm>

It's 2012 right!? Who STILL gets married in 2012? That fad is so outdated.

</sarcasm>


If you don't love them, don't marry them. IMO, only selfish people marry ONLY because of a need (materialistically speaking).

And yeah...that stigma still kinda floats around. If you are a woman and you have 5 kids and 6 baby daddies...lol...guess what society thinks of you. Then these same parents...never mind.

I'm glad I don't have to deal with this issue. Thank God!

 

[jsupop33]

Economics