A friend of my husband’s just became a grandfather. This is the first grandchild in the family for both his wife and he and he is not thrilled. Trouble is that his daughter is not married. She is not a teenager, but in her early twenties. But the thing is she is still living at home and has no financial means to live on her own.
It is not an uncommon scenario in this country. The rate of unwed mothers in the US is nearly 40 percent of babies in 2008, according to data released by the Pew Research Center. This is after a drop in about 14 years which has many concerned about the children born to unwed parents. They often face many disadvantages, including increased likelihood of poverty and greater high school dropout rates. This trend is also crossing ethic lines as well as moving toward slightly older mothers. Where it used to be teen-aged girls, these new mothers are often in their twenties, but with low income and limited education.
It is also interesting to note, as found by the Heritage Foundation, that people are not marrying because of the economical times. However, isn’t it more important to have good financial stability to have a child? I mean there is the cost of medical needs, education, clothing, etc. The cost of living without a child is so much less than with.
Just another one of those things that makes one shake their heads in wonder.
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