Women’s roles in the workplace and home have changed in the past 50 years, thanks in part to the economy and advocacy from many corners. In When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present, author Gail Collins chronicles that transformation.
“Over the last 50 years, women have taken equal responsibility in many cases for supporting their family,” Collins, the first woman to be editorial page editor of The New York Times, tells Steve Inskeep.
“Forty percent of new births are to single women, and women are 50 percent of the work force now, and that’s not going to change no matter how many theories you have, how many discussions you have about what women’s roles should be. That’s the way it is. That’s what the economy is dictating, and women just step up to the plate and deal with it.”
Caught this one yesterday during the midday run–listen to it all.
[blockquote]”Forty percent of new births are to single women, and women are 50 percent of the work force now, and that’s not going to change no matter how many theories you have, how many discussions you have about what women’s roles should be. That’s the way it is. That’s what the economy is dictating, and women just step up to the plate and deal with it.”[/blockquote]
Fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, suicide, poor educational performance, teen pregnancy, and criminality.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, DC, 1993.
These pages offer a wealth of data on the results of having so many single mother households:
http://www.fathers.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=391
This is the same as above, but in PDF format for easier reading:
http://www.fathers.com/content/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=391
http://www.photius.com/feminocracy/facts_on_fatherless_kids.html
#1: As a long-time single mother, I have to say I agree 100% with the reports you cite! Single-parent families are for the birds! (Not that I don’t love my daughter.) I see it especially in gender identity – my daughter had no father to tell her how beautiful she is, to admire her and boost her femininity. The lack of a father comes out in other ways, too. And she has never been interested in having “another dad.” – She very rightly says it wouldn’t be HER dad.
It will be very difficult to backtrack from this hole we’ve dug for ourselves.
Dear Helen,
With God, all things are possible. I wish I knew how to help you. I will pray for you and offer this passage of Scripture in the hope that you will be encouraged:
Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me. Psalms 27:10
My first post was a response to what I perceive our society to be doing; namely, advocating and engineering single motherhood. I am dismayed that we men are not fulfilling our obligations and that far too many have abandoned their wife and children.
To these men I offer this passage of Scripture:
[blockquote]13 Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
15 Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.
16 “I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the LORD Almighty.
So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith. Malachi 2
[/blockquote]
I realize that it isn’t all the fault of men, but I think a significant part of the sollution would be men honoring women, their wives, and their children. Women should likewise honor their husbands.
I had written a lot more personal stuff about my own family, but self edited it to remain on topic. Suffice to say, my parents are divorced. So, I hope no one takes what I am writing as criticism or condemnation. Rather, I hope it is perscriptive and helpful to amend and improve the situation. God bless.