Legitimizing Illegitimacy

From the pejorative “bastard” to the euphemistic “love child,” societies have struggled with the notion of a child born out of wedlock. But with increasing numbers of women in the workforce, no longer remotely tied to the “single breadwinner” married couple concept, the idea of bearing and raising children is no longer necessarily tied to marriage. The stigma of unwed motherhood has vaporized as well. Certainly, a very large number of such births to unmarried women, particularly in the teenaged years, are the result of unwanted or unexpected pregnancies where abortion is not, for economic or moral reasons an option. But the raw numbers of such “illegitimate” births are simply staggering.

While 59 percent of babies born in the United States are to married women, when the age demographic is lowered, the numbers reverse: “[T]he surge of births outside marriage among younger women — nearly two-thirds of children in the United States are born to mothers under 30 — is both a symbol of the transforming family and a hint of coming generational change.” New York Times, February 17^th. The biggest surge in such births has been among Caucasian women in their 20s who have some college but have not finished a four year degree. With a full college degree or more, the numbers fall back into favoring the world of births to married women.

The impact on American society is obviously very significant, and sociologists are still trying to examine the cause: “The shift is affecting children’s lives. Researchers have consistently found that children born outside marriage face elevated risks of falling into poverty, failing in school or suffering emotional and behavioral problems… The forces rearranging the family are as diverse as globalization and the pill. Liberal analysts argue that shrinking paychecks have thinned the ranks of marriageable men, while conservatives often say that the sexual revolution reduced the incentive to wed and that safety net programs discourage marriage.” NY Times.

According to the Pew Research Center report (December 14^th), the number of American marriages are down 5% from 2009 to 2010, with most people citing the economic downturn as a reason to postpone the marriage decision: “Barely half of all adults in the United States -- a record low -- are currently married, and the median age at first marriage has never been higher for brides (26.5 years) and grooms (28.7), according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census data… In 1960, 72% of all adults ages 18 and older were married; today just 51% are. If current trends continue, the share of adults who are currently married will drop to below half within a few years. Other adult living arrangements-including cohabitation, single-person households and single parenthood-have all grown more prevalent in recent decades.”

“‘Marriage has become a luxury good,’ said Frank Furstenberg, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania… Money helps explain why well-educated Americans still marry at high rates: they can offer each other more financial support, and hire others to do chores that prompt conflict. But some researchers argue that educated men have also been quicker than their blue-collar peers to give women equal authority. ‘They are more willing to play the partner role,’ said Sara McLanahan, a Princeton sociologist.” NY Times.

Accompanying this trend away from marriage is a U.S. phenomenon that is also impacting Japan and much of Western Europe as well: declining birthrates. An October 12^th Pew report notes: “The year 2007 marked a record high number of births in the U.S.-- 4,316,233. Since that time, births have been declining, even as the U.S. population continues to grow. Preliminary data for 2009 indicate that the number of births dropped to 4,131,018 -- the lowest number since 2004. Provisional data show that in 2010 births numbered just over 4 million (4,007,000).” Again, the economy is cited as the primary reason; having a child appears to be a “luxury good” as well.

A deeper analysis of these statistics reveals some interesting sub-trends: “Large racial differences remain: 73 percent of black children are born outside marriage, compared with 53 percent of Latinos and 29 percent of whites. And educational differences are growing. About 92 percent of college-educated women are married when they give birth, compared with 62 percent of women with some post-secondary schooling and 43 percent of women with a high school diploma or less, according to Child Trends.

“Almost all of the rise in non-marital births has occurred among couples living together. While in some countries such relationships endure at rates that resemble marriages, in the United States they are more than twice as likely to dissolve than marriages. In a summary of research, Pamela Smock and Fiona Rose Greenland, both of the University of Michigan, reported that two-thirds of couples living together split up by the time their child turned 10.” NY Times. In the end, this will require significant restructuring of legal rights for unmarried parents, new accommodations in our educational system and the supporting social structures that cater to children in lower economic strata. Even with the rise in religious fever, there is a countervailing reality that will change us all.

I’m Peter Dekom, and after all, a society is nothing more than a demographic aggregation that changes like everything else.