The American Census Bureau has recently published a report that reveals a sharp increase in the number of children born to unmarried mothers. The report shows that in 2011, around 36% of babies were born to single mothers.
Susan Stewart, a sociologist at Iowa State University, suggests that this spike may be linked to the impact of the recent economic downturn.
“The recession has screwed up everything in terms of marriage and family patterns,” Stewart said. “Birth rates were down, marriage rates were down and divorce rates were down because of the recession.”
According to Stewart, many couples wait until they are financially secure to get married, which may be why the marriage rate fell during the recession.She also points out that it is important to recognise that just because a mother is unmarried, it does not necessarily mean she is a single mother.
“People often think two things about single motherhood. They think they’re teenagers, which is not true. Women in their 20s produce the most out-of-wedlock babies. And they think that they’re single, meaning there’s no man in their life, when a large percentage are cohabiting with the child’s biological father,” she explained.
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