4 out of 10 children born in this country are illegitimate-is this social disease going to keep spreading...?

Question

Or will it level off? But then, that doesn't take into account the people who eventually marry (better late than never) or children given up for adoption. Also, statisticians are often dirty liars. And...what does that mean? Are illegitmacy rates higher in bigger cities with more people which happen to contribute the percentage more? Because where I come from way less than 4 out of ten children are illegitimate. All the same, this concerns me a bit. I just don't want our country to become like certain European countries which are basically Clockwork Orange come to life. We should learn from other people's mistakes.

You're right Andrew. There's nothing wrong with a child having no father and an unstable family. How narrow of me.

Pin you're living in a fantasy. 50% of all of American children were never born out of wedlock. Maybe in a specific place but never the whole country.

Answer 1

When babies are born (and when people die) the government keeps records, so these particular statistics are probably right; and I would think they include nothing more than whether babies have married parents or not (and don't factor in those who later get married).

Here's a good MSNBC article from last November about the one-in-four number:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15835429/

Apparently the teen birth rate is going down. Somewhere I ran into the statement that the number of unwed babies to Black mothers is going down as well (it has been pretty high recently even though years ago it was lower than the rate for White babies). What is going up is people in the twenties and later not caring if they're not married.

So there's good news and bad news I guess, but since the teen rate is going down there's a chance it could decrease in the other group as well.

Answer 2

"social disease" and "illegitimate" are inappropriate hate terms.

Regardless of what you think of the parents, theres no moral justification to blame the children or makes their lives worse with these labels.

Europe is rather leaving the US behind in most senses these days. Their education and health care are way better. Their currency has buried the US dollar (from parity to the US$ worth EU.70 in half a decade) - the first time in history that any major currency has done so - causing many nations' currency reserves to shift. If this continues, we'll be in a world of hurt because our economy (except the hi-tech sector) has been propped up by foreign currency reserves for a long time now, so if this crutch is removed.. crash. especially with oil prices rising and China gearing up to leave our industry in the dust.

The EU has learned from our mistakes. They now have as much clout as we have, without giving up as much individuality. EU states have far more freedom than US states do. In Bush's reign, The world has switched from imitating us to imitating them. The Pacific Rim, South America and Africa are now all in process of setting up unions consciously and publicly based on the EU model. Even we have done so in a watered-down version, with NAFTA. The wheel has turned, and the US is no longer the leader of the free world.

Some kids born out of wedlock are very unlucky, and many things needs to be done to improve their plight. name-calling is not one of them.

Yes, the statisticians are liars sometimes. Theres no reason to assume that all of these kids are unlucky or come from unstable homes. Some of these homes are quite stable, just aren't recognized by the US government. I know gay and straight families who've been together for decades and have good homes, but for various reasons aren't registered as officially "married" by the state.

Like many of us, I don't feel the government has any business in marriage. I don't need a piece of paper to tell me who I love, or where my commitments lie.

Answer 3

Historically, as much as some would like you to believe to the contrary, our country wasn't founded by good, moral upstanding men every time. There was plenty of philandering, plenty of children born out of wedlock, in the Americas and in Europe. In actuality, that rate has improved greatly since my gret great grandparents time, and even since my youth, when it was hal f of all babies born were born out of wedlock.

It's not a new condition, any more that smart mouthing teenagers is a new condition. It is, Indeed, an intregal part of the human condition.

BTW? U.S. is actually much worse in many of its behaviors, especially it's hypocricy, than many other countries.

Answer 4

"Illegitimate" ???

What a quaint concept !

What's next? Fedoras? Pillbox hats and veils on women?

I can't agree that this is an "issue" and certainly not a "social disease," except in the minds of some pretty narrow individuals.