I believe it is safe to say, and that most will agree with the simple
fact that there are more children being born outside of marriages.
There are also fewer marriages to begin with.
Over the past thirty-five years, marriage has declined and the number
of so-called illegitimate children have increased. Okay? Okay.
Accordingly, many of us will acknowledge that there are fewer fathers
in the lives of the children being born outside of marriages.
And, we will probably agree that the diminishing number of fathers in
the lives of children has contributed to a number of social problems,
including teen crime, drug-related behaviors and child abuse.
But, sadly, what we probably won’t agree upon is the root cause of
childbirth outside of marriage, or even to whom the children are being
born.
In 1965, seven percent of the nation’s children were born to single parents. Currently the number is 33 percent.
There are three main factors that have contributed to that increase,
including a decrease in the number of women who wait for marriage to
have children; a decline in the birth rate of married women and an
increase in the birth rate of unmarried women.
Now, first and foremost allow me to underscore the fact that this is
not a Black phenomenon. This is something that is occurring in America
and it affects everyone.
Having said that, if we know that the problem is that there are more
unmarried women having children, why can’t more of the solutions focus
on encouraging more women who are unmarried to avoid unwanted
pregnancies?
There are a plethora of choices, including myriad forms of birth
control, abstinence, and whether you agree or disagree, abortion is
also an option.
The point is that it is counterproductive and silly to only discuss
absentee and deadbeat fathers, without also discussing the role and
responsibility of the person who has the most control.
Examine the court system where child support is concerned and the focus
is on assuring that fathers pay or are jailed, but very little focus is
given to whether the woman who had the child is prepared and capable of
supporting her offspring financially, emotionally or otherwise. Shall
we force her to demonstrate financial responsibility or be jailed?
And the question that no one wants to ask is this: If neither the
mother nor the father were financially prepared, why weren’t steps
taken to prevent the pregnancy? I’ll follow up on this shortly.
The question of how to reduce out of wedlock births can not be boiled
down to laying the blame at the feet of Black men. In addition to the
dual responsibility for both parents, there is also societal
responsibility.
For example, while television (both cable and network) has delivered
more sexual content, our schools have delivered less sexual education.
And, the village that may have raised previous generations of children from single parent homes has splintered.
Today’s single mothers are more than likely the children of single
mothers themselves, who may have provided little sex education and/or
preparation for sex and pregnancy.
A blip on the radar screen was the slight decline of single parent births in the Black community in the late 1990’s.
But percentage-wise, things still don’t look very good.
Before presenting the numbers, it is crucial to underscore the fact
that while African Americans have a more dismal picture in terms of
sheer percentages of populations, all Americans are dealing with the
issue.
In fact, Blacks don’t actually have the highest actual number of out of wedlock children.
In terms of percentages, non-Hispanic Blacks have a total of 69.4 per
cent of births out of wedlock, Hispanics have 40.92, whites have 21.54
and Asian/Pacific islanders have 15.64 percent.
But when you look at the actual numbers, the highest percentage of the
total number of out of wedlock births is held by whites with 41
percent. Blacks hold 32 percent of that number and Hispanics hold 23
percent.
In fact, if you take a look at the trend of out of wedlock births from
1980 until the end of the last century, you’ll find that the spike was
more due to white illegitimate births.
During that time period, annual Black non-marital births increased by
roughly 100,000, while the same group in the white community increased
twofold, rising from 328,984 to 793,202.
My point? When many Americans, including Black Americans talk about out
of wedlock childbirth, invariably the picture of a Black mother is
conjured up, yet, the reality is contrary.
Now, earlier I asked why people would have children if they know that both the mother and the father are ill prepared.
I posed that question because when it comes to out of wedlock births,
the majority is not happening to teen mothers who may know very little
about how life works.
Out of wedlock childbirth is not synonymous with teen pregnancy. The
portion of unwed mothers under the age of 18 is only 13.17 percent of
the total.
The primary age group affected is 18 to 25, and actually, there are
more out of wedlock births to women over the age of thirty than under
the age of 18.
While the concept of the irresponsible father is widely touted, single
mothers are not innocent victims of some man who, quoting Bill Cosby,
is a "sperm-shooting machine," who wantonly impregnates women and
"walks away from something called fatherhood."
Nearly 40 percent of childbirth out of wedlock involves a woman who is living with a man.
And, many of the births outside of marriage aren’t necessarily unplanned.
Nearly half of those pregnancies are intentional, with 34 percent
occurring earlier than the mother planned and only 14 percent resulting
from unwanted pregnancies.
In fact, the decline in marriage among young adult women has come hand
in hand with a sharp increase in sexual activity outside of marriage.
Among non-married women from the age of 20 to 35, some 79 percent
report being sexually active with 15 percent of that activity occurring
without birth control.
Finally, roughly half of all out of wedlock births are second or third births for the mother.
What does this all mean?
It means a few things..
First, America must alter its view of out of wedlock childbirth and accordingly, it’s view of where the blame should lie.
Two people have sex and a child is born—both must be held equally responsible and liable, financially and otherwise
Secondly, society itself must take responsibility and according action to provide more sex education to the masses.
And, if the focus is given to assuring that more unmarried mothers and
fathers understand the importance of having fathers in the lives of
children, then perhaps the resulting work can be focused on decreasing
the number of children born without stable relationships with their
fathers.
It also means that the consequences of raising children without fathers
must be examined clearly with pragmatic resolution as the goal.
- Darryl James is an award-winning author and is now a filmmaker. His first mini-movie, Crack, was released in March of this year.
- James’ latest book, "Bridging The Black Gender Gap," is the basis of his lectures and seminars.
- Previous installments of this column can now be viewed at www.bridgecolumn.com. James can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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