Forty percent of births in Michigan are out-of-wedlock

The neoconservatives used to declare in the most alarmed tones that illegitimacy was the greatest threat to our social fabric, and that race preferences were the greatest threat to the essential idea of America. Both of those problems have continued to spread, but the neoconservatives hardly talk about either of them any more. They do, however, really, really care about spreading American-style democracy to Egypt and Libya. The worse America gets, by the neocons’ own standards, the more the neocons insist that America is the standard for the world to follow.

The story is from mlive.com:

4 in 10 Michigan births in 2009 delivered by unmarried women
July 06, 2011,

Forty percent of all births in Michigan in 2009 were to unmarried women, up from 34 percent in 2000. The trend consigns thousands of children to poverty and their mothers to a future of low-wage subsistence, says a new study.

The Michigan League for Human Services today reported that while the percentage of births by women in their teens is down, two out of every three births to women in their early 20s were to single mothers.

About half of all births were to mothers eligible for Medicaid. For single women under the age of 25, at least half said the pregnancy was unintended.

During the 2000-2009 period, the percentage of births considered unhealthy—preterm or low birthweight—rose among whites and Hispanic women and held steady among blacks.

The cost for society and to the economic prospects of the families is high, said Jane Zehnder-Merrell, who conducted the study.

Unmarried women who give birth are less likely to receive child support or marry later on They are more likely to have marginal employment and education opportunities. When those opportunities conflict with parenting, the parenting takes precedence. Seventeen percent of all births in Michigan are to women without a high school education.

“It really takes two adults working to support a family anymore unless you’re at the top of the income bracket,” she said. “It’s highly likely that these children will grow up in a poor family or a family with marginal income.”

According to the League, a Michigan family with one child needs a gross income of more than $40,000 just to meet basic needs including minimal savings for emergencies, education expenses and a house payment. Single mothers, however, often work in sectors that provide low hourly wages. Even at 40 hours a week at $12 an hour, a retail worker grosses less than $25,000 annually.

While Medicaid spends billions on maternity every year, relatively little is spent on public health programs to encourage young women to avoid pregnancy in the first place. Zehnder-Merrell said there has to be greater access to family planning and the education provided to use it.

“Clearly we need to do a much better job of helping teens make it through those years” she said.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at July 09, 2011 03:53 PM | Send