For Women Under 30, Most Births Occur Outside Marriage

[Zundrah]

Let me try to respond as an old man who grew up in a different time, and a historian.

First, my mother, as all mothers of that time taught me to stand when a lady enters the room, remove my hat before speaking to a lady, and always to treat a lady properly. Young ladies were taught to accept and expect that treatment with quiet dignity.
Girls were taught that their first responsibilty was to their husband and children to maintain a good home for them. While boys were taught that their first responsibilty was to their wife and children, to work to provide funds for that good home for his family.
My father and parish priest taught me to be responsible for my actions, including marrying a girl if you got her pregnant or go to work and support the child if the girl refused to marry. That was my times.

In historical times pregnancy has been treated far differently. Ever wonder why there is so many names in the phone book that begin with “fitz”. It is because that’s the Gaelic word for illegitimate child of John, Gerald, Hugh, etc. Then there was practiced in Scotland a term called hand fasting. Where a couple had the man’s right arm and the lady’s left arm tied together in a hand fasting ceremony. They lived together for a year. If they produced a child, then the marriage was performed by replacing the tying of her left arm with a ring on the third finger of her left hand. The couple could also break the hand fast with simple consent from both at any time during that first year. In our South a lady would have to prove that she was fertile before a marriage was performed. This was true up to and after the War for Southern Independence. In the Morman Sect of the 1800, early 1900’s, many Mormen men had been killed, hanged, died in jails for their beliefs. So, multiple marriages were authorized just to bring more children into the sect. In Africa today, women are “fixed” so they have no feeling during sex. It is accepted that African men have complete authority over women and that women must submit to any man. Hence, some would say Barak Obama, whose African father was taught in this matter. In Islam a female is nothing more than property. In some areas of Islam when the marriage ceremony was performed a sheeps skin was given to the man to place under his new wife, which he had to retrun to the Imam with blood of his wife on it to prove she was a virgin when married.

While marriage, or formal coupling of a man and woman in some fashion is a long ancient accepted ceremony in history both pagan and religious, the rules of pregnancy are not.

Slave women were given presents by their owners on our Southern plantations when they became pregnant. Those slaves, in many cases, married by jumping over a broom. But the chance of family was almost not existent as a slave marriage was not recognized and they could be sold at will.

Today, we still see some small remnants of that slave mentality in African American children born out of wedlock and a fatherless family, A mentality passed by, some would say, ignorant generations. We thought we could change that with integration. However, historically it has been proven that when two societies integrate the stronger actions of one will eventually overcome the other. We are seeing it happen before our very eyes. Our government facilitates it under the guise of multiculturism, government mandated birth control, food stamps, welfare, and so many other “equalizing” programs. We see it in our lack of proper speech, music, and a week long celebration of the death of a drug addict who lost her millions up her nose and down her throat. It was the same with Janis Joplin in the late 60’s. So skin color has no bearing, our children’s “heros” no longer set a good example.

In my time what Bristol Palin did would have been quietly filed in some journalist’s file. Today, it made worldwide headlines. Because of who she is and the now “food frenzy” attitude of our present media. I wonder what would happen if, in a very short time, one of President Obama’s daughters became pregnant and had a child out of wedlock. The ravenous media would jump all over it and we would have special hour long news programs dedicated to that one subject. “The times they are a changin” a mantra of the late 60’s.

Scientists predict that within 1500 years we will all look the same, that races will no longer exist. That’s probably a good thing. The only problem is what the laws and practices of religion and social responsiblity be in 1500 years?

That was wonderful (name removed by moderator)ut from you, I really enjoyed reading it. I’d like to thank you for taking the time to write it all out.

 

[MJE]

PorkRoll’s highlighting of the % of unwed Black mothers is not racist. The black American family has suffered beyond words. Crime rate is directly related to the absence of fathers. Consider the horrible high crime rate of black American boys & men. Look @ the situation in the inner city black neighborhood public schools. Look @ the high number of Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in the economically poor black neighborhoods. The liberal/Democrat helpline? Free contraceptives/abortion?

The disproportionate number of unwed black mothers must be addressed. Who are they?
Children of God, made in His image.

 

[Stjudeprayforus]

How many married and unmarried men were those children born to please?

Exactly… those women are raising those children on their own. Where are the men?

At least these women didn’t abort their children.

 

[Stjudeprayforus]

Let me try to respond as an old man who grew up in a different time, and a historian.

First, my mother, as all mothers of that time taught me to stand when a lady enters the room, remove my hat before speaking to a lady, and always to treat a lady properly. Young ladies were taught to accept and expect that treatment with quiet dignity.
Girls were taught that their first responsibilty was to their husband and children to maintain a good home for them. While boys were taught that their first responsibilty was to their wife and children, to work to provide funds for that good home for his family.
My father and parish priest taught me to be responsible for my actions, including marrying a girl if you got her pregnant or go to work and support the child if the girl refused to marry. That was my times.

In historical times pregnancy has been treated far differently. Ever wonder why there is so many names in the phone book that begin with “fitz”. It is because that’s the Gaelic word for illegitimate child of John, Gerald, Hugh, etc. Then there was practiced in Scotland a term called hand fasting. Where a couple had the man’s right arm and the lady’s left arm tied together in a hand fasting ceremony. They lived together for a year. If they produced a child, then the marriage was performed by replacing the tying of her left arm with a ring on the third finger of her left hand. The couple could also break the hand fast with simple consent from both at any time during that first year. In our South a lady would have to prove that she was fertile before a marriage was performed. This was true up to and after the War for Southern Independence. In the Morman Sect of the 1800, early 1900’s, many Mormen men had been killed, hanged, died in jails for their beliefs. So, multiple marriages were authorized just to bring more children into the sect. In Africa today, women are “fixed” so they have no feeling during sex. It is accepted that African men have complete authority over women and that women must submit to any man. Hence, some would say Barak Obama, whose African father was taught in this matter. In Islam a female is nothing more than property. In some areas of Islam when the marriage ceremony was performed a sheeps skin was given to the man to place under his new wife, which he had to retrun to the Imam with blood of his wife on it to prove she was a virgin when married.

While marriage, or formal coupling of a man and woman in some fashion is a long ancient accepted ceremony in history both pagan and religious, the rules of pregnancy are not.

Slave women were given presents by their owners on our Southern plantations when they became pregnant. Those slaves, in many cases, married by jumping over a broom. But the chance of family was almost not existent as a slave marriage was not recognized and they could be sold at will.

Today, we still see some small remnants of that slave mentality in African American children born out of wedlock and a fatherless family, A mentality passed by, some would say, ignorant generations. We thought we could change that with integration. However, historically it has been proven that when two societies integrate the stronger actions of one will eventually overcome the other. We are seeing it happen before our very eyes. Our government facilitates it under the guise of multiculturism, government mandated birth control, food stamps, welfare, and so many other “equalizing” programs. We see it in our lack of proper speech, music, and a week long celebration of the death of a drug addict who lost her millions up her nose and down her throat. It was the same with Janis Joplin in the late 60’s. So skin color has no bearing, our children’s “heros” no longer set a good example.

In my time what Bristol Palin did would have been quietly filed in some journalist’s file. Today, it made worldwide headlines. Because of who she is and the now “food frenzy” attitude of our present media. I wonder what would happen if, in a very short time, one of President Obama’s daughters became pregnant and had a child out of wedlock. The ravenous media would jump all over it and we would have special hour long news programs dedicated to that one subject. “The times they are a changin” a mantra of the late 60’s.

Scientists predict that within 1500 years we will all look the same, that races will no longer exist. That’s probably a good thing. The only problem is what the laws and practices of religion and social responsiblity be in 1500 years?

Very very interesting.

I had no idea about 'Fitz".

 

[severus68]

I think to solve current problems in society you have to look at the source of what started them. It started in the 1960s with War on Poverty.

capitalismmagazine.com/politics/poverty/3864-War-Poverty-Revisited.html

I really do not think negative comments about a particular minority race or any other race should be posted on a thread on CAF whether they are your own words or you are quoting from somewhere.

 

[severus68]

PorkRoll’s highlighting of the % of unwed Black mothers is not racist. The black American family has suffered beyond words. Crime rate is directly related to the absence of fathers. Consider the horrible high crime rate of black American boys & men. Look @ the situation in the inner city black neighborhood public schools. Look @ the high number of Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in the economically poor black neighborhoods. The liberal/Democrat helpline? Free contraceptives/abortion?

The disproportionate number of unwed black mothers must be addressed. Who are they?
Children of God, made in His image.

Let’s keep it it a general discussion. Unless we are all African Americans or a group actually working to help African Americans , these comments have no place in a Catholic forum.

 

[Stjudeprayforus]

Let’s keep it it a general discussion. Unless we are all African Americans or a group actually working to help African Americans , these comments have no place in a Catholic forum.

I fail to see what is wrong with that comment.

Is any of it untrue?

 

[severus68]

Agreed!

To respond to L piperatus I do not want to divert this discussion about politics but your political views are very different to mine as a catholic.

And from mine.

 

[lynnehut]

I know there are unmarried mothers out there who got pregnant for selfish reasons, but the fathers of these children should also be hold accountable, it just seems that some people forget it takes two to conceive a child.

excellent point!

 

[Mrs_Sally]

I really do not think negative comments about a particular minority race or any other race should be posted on a thread on CAF whether they are your own words or you are quoting from somewhere.

It is hard to solve problems you don’t fully understand. If a particular condition, social issue, disease, whathaveyou disproportionally affects one segment of society, it is important to know that in order to properly correct the situation.

So if a medical condition were more common in Pacific Islanders, than the cure (whether it is diet, medicine, surgery, etc.) should be developed and tested with Pacific Islanders.

In this case, this “disease” is more common in African Americans than in other groups. It makes sense to develop ways to combat it in that community.

I do think that the data also shows that unmarried births are higher for lower-income and lower-education groups. That should also be taken into consideration when methods are developed to lower those numbers.

 

[severus68]

It is hard to solve problems you don’t fully understand. If a particular condition, social issue, disease, whathaveyou disproportionally affects one segment of society, it is important to know that in order to properly correct the situation.

So if a medical condition were more common in Pacific Islanders, than the cure (whether it is diet, medicine, surgery, etc.) should be developed and tested with Pacific Islanders.

In this case, this “disease” is more common in African Americans than in other groups. It makes sense to develop ways to combat it in that community.

I do think that the data also shows that unmarried births are higher for lower-income and lower-education groups. That should also be taken into consideration when methods are developed to lower those numbers.

I do not see how people on an anonymous forum, making negative comments singling out minority races are solving any problems.

 

[_Abyssinia]

I really do not think negative comments about a particular minority race or any other race should be posted on a thread on CAF whether they are your own words or you are quoting from somewhere.

I do not see how people on an anonymous forum, making negative comments singling out minority races are solving any problems.

War on Poverty is in large part to blame for the problems in the Black community today, if that is not discussed in the open, the problems will never be resolved.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

I do not see how people on an anonymous forum, making negative comments singling out minority races are solving any problems.

The OP was quoting the statistics from the study. No one on an anonymous forum is solving any problems, no matter what the rules of discussion are. But by becoming aware of a situation, we can all go back to our own real-life communities and help to solve problems there.

 

[LovePatience]

War on Poverty is in large part to blame for the problems in the Black community today, if that is not discussed in the open, the problems will never be resolved.

Could you be more specific about the problems in the black community today that you want to resolve, and why you are more concerned about the problems in the black community versus the problems in other communities? The initial post was about unwed pregnancy.

The original article says: 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. Couldn’t the issue of 74% out of wedlock be due to a disproportionate lack of college education for black people, which has an unclear relationship with the war on poverty.

 

[MJE]

Charity demands the assualt on the black American children, women, men, family be exposed.

 

[_Abyssinia]

Could you be more specific about the problems in the black community today that you want to resolve, and why you are more concerned about the problems in the black community versus the problems in other communities? The initial post was about unwed pregnancy.

The original article says: 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. Couldn’t the issue of 74% out of wedlock be due to a disproportionate lack of college education for black people, which has an unclear relationship with the war on poverty.

The lack of college education resulting most likely from suspension or expulsion from school is related to the family. Although single parents can do good a job of raising children the statistics do not lie; if you come from a single parent home your more likely to be arrested for crime, more likely to drop out from completing high school, more likely to experience poverty when an adult etc.

War in Poverty compensated single mothers for the loss of income from not having a father.

Economic advancement is largely contingent on family solidarity.

 

[JimG]

Men do seem to somehow slip through the net of responsibility.

This has been increasingly true in the decades since the 1960’s. Ironically, the sexual revolution and women’s liberation movements had the effect of setting men free from responsibility.

With the expolsion in the use of contraceptives and the legalization of abortion on demand in Roe v Wade, men were pretty much set free to do as the pleased while placing responsibility for unwed pregnancy on women.

With birth control, the devaluing of the idea of marriage before sex, and increased pressure on women to act just like men when it comes to casual sex, men had even less reason to act responsibly. The end result is an increase of the numbers of unwed mothers, children with absent fathers, and families without two parents present in a binding marriage relationship. It drove more women into poverty.

That made Uncle Sam the default daddy, which in turn drives up social support costs and drives the deficit, the implosion of which will end up hurting everybody.

 

[LovePatience]

The lack of college education resulting most likely from suspension or expulsion from school is related to the family. Although single parents can do good a job of raising children the statistics do not lie; if you come from a single parent home your more likely to be arrested for crime, more likely to drop out from completing high school, more likely to experience poverty when an adult etc.

War in Poverty compensated single mothers for the loss of income from not having a father.

Economic advancement is largely contingent on family solidarity.

If the War in Poverty is the primary reason, why did it not affect all groups equally? Are some groups prevented from being compensated for the loss of income?

 

[Zundrah]

This has been increasingly true in the decades since the 1960’s. Ironically, the sexual revolution and women’s liberation movements had the effect of setting men free from responsibility.

With the expolsion in the use of contraceptives and the legalization of abortion on demand in Roe v Wade, men were pretty much set free to do as the pleased while placing responsibility for unwed pregnancy on women.

With birth control, the devaluing of the idea of marriage before sex, and increased pressure on women to act just like men when it comes to casual sex, men had even less reason to act responsibly. The end result is an increase of the numbers of unwed mothers, children with absent fathers, and families without two parents present in a binding marriage relationship. It drove more women into poverty.

That made Uncle Sam the default daddy, which in turn drives up social support costs and drives the deficit, the implosion of which will end up hurting everybody.

Can you think of a solution?

 

[He_Man]

Let’s keep it it a general discussion. Unless we are all African Americans or a group actually working to help African Americans , these comments have no place in a Catholic forum.

Yes, lets avoid facts in an effort not to offend. We can discuss every demographic in every other topic, but mentioning astoundingly bad statistics among the black community is racist?

So it is okay to call out things like “where are the fathers?” or “men escape responsibility!” (all true, mind you), but referencing statistics on race is somehow taboo? As a man and father, I’ll be the first to admit there are a lot of loser men out there who are deadbeats and poor excuses for men. Can we call a spade a spade?

Please. Facts are what they are. There are many reasons for these facts that should be reviewed and discussed. To avoid this sort of thing is to bury our heads in the sand and pretend things will work out. They won’t. It will get worse, and society will destroy itself. It is essentially moral entropy. Life gravitates towards chaos without some effort.