"Why More Single Moms Is a Good Thing" - This from Gawker > Jezebel

[patrice]

I was just asking myself: are attitudes toward unmarried childbearing: positive? or negative? on the average.

I'm thinking about how Republicans are telling American men that no doesn't mean no and wondering where that's coming from, so, here's the first thing I found that discusses aspects of that attitude toward unmarried childbearing and I'll be looking for more.

P.S. I have a sense of Gawker's general orientation, so it isn't necessary to remind me, unless you just really want to.

http://jezebel.com/5887425/why-more-single-moms-is-a-good-thing

Single moms, write Edin and Kefalas, see motherhood as a "promise they can keep." They are certain of their capacity to love a child. They are more cautious about committing to marry the fathers of their children (or other men), not only because of their keen awareness of divorce statistics but because they don't see any reason to settle for less than a truly excellent relationship. Seen in that light, the rise in unwed motherhood and the declining marriage rate are cause for rejoicing. Despite Lori Gottlieb's famous plea, fewer women than ever are willing to settle for merely "good enough." It's not that men are less economically viable than they were in the past — it's that even poor women want more from a marriage than a lifetime union with a good provider. Rising rates of illegitimacy, in other words, may signify that more and more women can afford to be choosy. That's a good thing.