Births Out of Wedlock

Out-of-wedlock births is a relatively new concept but it can have a huge impact on families. One study called “Approval of Out-of-Wedlock Births Growing in U.S” discusses how Americans' views have become more liberal on different moral issues over the past 15 years. During this time, people have become more accepting of parents having children outside of marriage. (Jones, 2015). This can definitely be a problem because it is becoming a social norm and it is escalating quickly.

One study called “Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing, Marital Prospects and Mate Selection” says,  Women who have children outside of marriage are more likely to cohabit than to marry. It is also more likely that these women will be with or married less-educated and older partners. (Zenchao, et al.) This kind of household is unstable for children according to research. 

Another study called “Out-of-Wedlock Births, Premarital Pregnancies and their Effect on Family Formation and Dissolution” says women who had their first child outside of marriage were a lot more likely to experience marital disruption than women who had not been pregnant or mothers during their first marriage. Women who were first married in 1970-1974, 29 percent separated within five years who had already had a child at the time of their marriage. Also, 23 percent of women separated within five years who had been pregnant with their first child at the time of their marriage, whereas only 18 percent of women separated who had not given birth and had not been pregnant at marriage. This marital instability experienced by women who married while pregnant or after having a child is related to their economically disadvantaged position. Many of these women, and their husbands, had low educational levels and low levels of employment, and if they were employed, they were not likely to hold professional or managerial jobs. Coincidentally, they tended to have low family income. Overall, the data shows that families in which the woman has experienced an out-of-wedlock pregnancy or birth, struggled. (O’Connell & Rogers). This shows that having children out of wedlock can impact a later marriage.

There are no programs on this issue but I definitely think there should be. According to the research, in order to prevent out of wedlock births, it is best to either encourage early marriage or to encourage delayed childbearing until marriage.

I think people don’t really understand how much having a child out-of-wedlock impacts a child and a family in general. It is just totally acceptable now. If we can get the word out about how bad it really is, this will help a lot. I think one way to get the word out there would be to hold seminars.

              

Here is a link to a video from Fox News in which they discuss why the approval of out-of-wedlock births are growing:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4265070532001/why-is-approval-of-out-of-wedlock-births-growing/?#sp=show-clips