Unmarried With Children
The article “Unmarried, with Children” by Barbara Kantrowitz and Pat Wingert raises a complex problem of single motherhood that becomes more common nowadays. Both authors are experienced journalists and have won many awards for their works. They are especially concerned with issues related to family life, children, education, social welfare etc. The above mentioned article attracts readers’ attention to the growing trend of single motherhood and the erosion of traditional family values. The new picture of the ordinary American family is described, and the possible reasons for this change are interpreted. The authors’ observations are supported by statistical data. Overall, the journalists try to be objective and do not take a strongly negative point. Still, the view that “single motherhood is not a good thing” (Kantrowitz and Wingert 4) dominates. Indeed, living in an incomplete family has a number of negative sides and consequences for single parents themselves, for their children, and, at last, for society as a whole.
To start with, marriage seems to have a positive impact even on financial condition. Statistics shows that married couples have a higher income and accumulate more savings by the retirement. In average, such couples typically have about $410,000 (or $205,000 per person) when they reach their retirement age, whereas never-married have about $167,000, or $38,000 less (Get the Facts on Marriage). Of course, this does not mean that all single mothers are inevitably poor but these figures demonstrate that they are more exposed to all difficulties of everyday life that always require money. In modern world women can earn not less than men, or even more, and the stereotype of single-mothers changes, but a typical single mother is “still likely to be financially insecure” (Kantrowitz and Wingert 2).
If loneliness impacts income, than all the more so it influences the person’s mental condition. A single parent has to face all challenges of real life on her/his own, and all those stresses cannot pass without leaving a trace. Women are especially susceptive to the negative consequences of everyday stresses. According to Marano, two out of three Americans suffering a serious depression are females (3).
It is obvious that the negative consequences of being a part of incomplete family are twice as hefty for children as for their adult parents. These children have less opportunities to enjoy some pleasures that can be bought compared to their lucky peers who live in a financially secured family. As statistics shows, almost 59% of children under six years old who are breed by a single mother are considered poor, whereas the percentage of poor children living in a complete family is only 11.5% (Get the Facts on Marriage). Needless to say how important a purchase of a new toy or cycle can be for a little child, and how miserable he or she may feel when it’s impossible to get it.
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