First Comes Junior In a Baby Carriage (4 in 10 Births by Single Moms)

MSNBC Newsweak ^ | 6 Dece,ber 2--6 | Debra Rosenberg and Pat Wingert

[shrinkermd]

....More American women than ever are putting motherhood before matrimony. New data released by the Centers for Disease Control show that nearly four in 10 U.S. babies were born outside of marriage in 2005—a new high. These unwed moms aren't all teens—last year teen pregnancies fell to their lowest levels in 65 years. Some—like 44-year-old Mary Lee MacKichan, who used a gay friend as a sperm donor—are professional, older women who want to have babies before their biological clocks run out, but most are low-income twentysomethings. (Unwed births among 30- to 44-year-olds are up 17 percent since 1991; among those 25 to 29, they're up 30 percent.) And some 40 percent of those moms aren't going it alone—they're cohabiting, at least for a while. That's creating a major shift in what a generation of children are coming to call a family. "Marriage is still alive and well, but it has a lot of competition," says Wellesley College sociologist Rosanna Hertz, author of "Single by Chance, Mothers by Choice."

Ironically, sociologists say, marriage may be on the decline precisely because it has become so idealized. People expect more from marriage than they did a century ago, when it was mainly a practical arrangement to provide financial stability for women and a place to raise children. "Now it's not only love and romance but also self-fulfillment and personal growth," says Pamela Smock, professor of sociology at the University of Michigan. Since there's no longer much of a stigma attached to getting pregnant outside of marriage, many couples have replaced "shotgun weddings" with "shotgun cohabitations

[linda_22003]

"I know I'd rather be dirt poor and happy in my marriage and family, than rich and miserable."

Take it from me, those aren't the only two choices. ;-D

[Accygirl]

Well, if your husband didn't go to a top tier MBA school, then of course he isn't going to be making that much money. There's many difference between going to Devry Online at night for your MBA and taking two years off from work to go to Northwestern...

Here's some stats on programs Accygirl is applying to...

Northwestern...http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/career_employer/employment/2005/industry_ft.htm

MIT....http://mitsloan.mit.edu/global/employment/detailed05.php#salary

Washington University....http://www.olin.wustl.edu/wcc/pdf/AnnualReport.pdf

Even the lowest ranked program of the three (Wash U) has a starting salary of way more than what a good mechanic makes in a year.

[Accygirl]

No, actually Daddy isn't really a very popular man at his company because it's his job to tell execs. that they're doing their jobs wrong... So I don't think that Daddy's company is going to hire Accygirl as a VP anytime soon. However, Accygirl is going to get accepted by a top MBA program because she worked her a** off in college and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Illinois with a degree in accounting. But I guess that's it's too hard for your little brain to comprehend that a woman might actually be that smart and that driven that she can succeed without the help of Daddy or her husband...

(BTW, those median MBA salaries (which includes all MBA program, not just the elite schools) look pretty good to me. A heck of alot better than the guy who changes my oil at Jiffy Lube makes).

[kcvl]

*Mary Lee MacKichan, PhD, is a freelance science writer based in San Francisco.

[Accygirl]

Yep... the guy who changes oil at Jiffy Lube has such a meaningful job.

[kcvl]

Pamela Smock, professor of sociology at the University of Michigan

[kcvl]

Wellesley College sociologist Rosanna Hertz

[Accygirl]

"Vinnie, who keeps up my Mercedes, is clearing that sum easy"

God are you overpaying for your mechanic if this is the case. However, I very much doubt it is. Methinks that Vinny would be lucky to make $30,000 in a year.

"Sorry to say to the MBA at 28, the same educated guy is not looking for a 28 year old, but a 20 year old."

So you want a twenty-year-old bimbo trophy wife who doesn't even have a college degree. Frankly, guys like you are the reason that many career women don't want to get married...

"Remember, children are a blessing, and to be cherished."

Oh, I agree.... I just don't think that the husbands are a gift to be cherished.

[AndyJackson]

You sure started a firestorm. In 1994 we saw the rejection of new deal liberalism. Now we are witnessing the rejection of turn-back-the-clock to the 1800's conservatism, and a lot of folks here don't like it. Their normative proscriptions are as irrelevant to modern day problems as the old-time machine politics liberals are.

Folks around here need to get a clue. It isn't that they don't like liberals telling them what to do. They don't like anyone with their hands on the levers of power telling them what to do.

[Accygirl]

You're being sarcastic right??

[AndyJackson]

Oh, you are going to go to one of them elitist schools that will turn you into a commie. /sarcasm

[Accygirl]

Mareen Dowd probably makes lots more money than you do... I don't agree with her politics, but I can admire that...

[Accygirl]

Business programs are full of Republicans, not Commies. Dubya went to Harvard for his MBA, and I believe that he turned out alright...

[AndyJackson]

I did indicate that I was being sarcastic. I was on your side, but...

[kcvl]

Median Salary by City - Job: Automobile Mechanic (United States)

[kcvl]

BOAT MECHANIC Salary $80K - Location: US-NY-Long Island-Queens


******



The typical MBA in the class of 2006 made US$61,302 before earning the MBA degree and expects a post-MBA salary of US$86,350—that's a 41% increase, and an immediate return on the MBA investment.

Of course, the typical salary is an average of all salaries; the range of pre- and post-MBA salaries includes some that are much lower and some that are much higher than the average. Factors that will affect your actual post-MBA salary include the following:

* your post-MBA job function
* the industry you work in after graduation
* the geographic region in which you work
* your pre-MBA professional experience (including whether your experience base is in the field you pursue post-MBA)

[qam1]

Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.  

[usmom]

My dh works with a 25-year old, single mother of two. They both at least have the same father- an unemployed, felon loser who doesn't lift a finger to do anything, with the kids or otherwise. When my dh asks why she has chosen this, she says that she wants to have her kids while she's young and doesn't necessarily even want to marry this guy- she just feels like having kids now and doesn't want to wait. She does want to have at least one more baby with him before she's 30,- then she says she'll think of marriage (probably with someone else if he doesn't shape up- as if they'll be lining up around the block for her to choose from). She sees absolutely nothing wrong with this and thinks unmarried couples should have all the same rights and respect as married ones- because it's just a choice- not right or wrong. Oh, yeah, this pillar of motherhood also lets her 6/7 year old watch movies like Saw and Texas Chain Saw Massacre because he likes them.

[Accygirl]

"Your posts have a lot of anger in them, why is that? "

I believe that lots of people on this board, who agree with me on many things, are also trying to keep me in the kitchen. Frankly, I fear for the Republican party if its rank and file cannot accept the fact that there are women out there who want real careers...

"What interests me is that you're angrily defending your right to choose a mate based on income, education, and a laundry list of your needs and expectations, yet nowhere do you mention love,"

I'm a college educated woman; I'd like to go out with a guy with a college degree since I think that he would have more in common with me than a guy who changes oil at Jiffy Lube. Frankly, I believe that before you even get to love, you have to like someone, and if you don't have anything in common with that person, then you're not going to even go out with him. Also, I would like someone who has some economic stability... There's nothing less sexy for a woman than having to provide for a deadbeat husband. I have no expectations concerning a guy's looks or his personality (although I have no tolerance for Mama's boys).

"and you spit on the idea of motherhood."

No, I would like to get married and have kids if I meet a desirable man; however, I have not met him yet. If I haven't met him by the time I'm thirty-three, I might seriously consider having a child on my own... I don't think that this is so bad.

However, I do "spit" on the idea of motherhood for children who are only eighteen, even if those children decide to get married.

"You, i feel, will join their ranks. I don't say that to be malicious, I just know your kind"

Dude... did you read your little tirade???? And you think that I seem bitter??? It seems like you are a bit bitter as well...

"start to develop healthy attitudes towards men, marriage, and motherhood. Nobody is demanding that women stay barefoot and pregnant, yet you came out of the box swinging for the fence with attitude and anger, and showed yourself to be part of the problem the article talks about. "

Being a stay-at-home/ homeschooling mom with fifteen children is better than being a career woman is the prevailing attitude of this board. I've been around here long enough and gotten into enough fights with men (and women) who feel that women should remain pregnant, barefoot, and in the kitchen to realize the sort of people who post here. I post counterarguments because the fact that there are people who still think this way in the U.S., especially when we're fighting a war against people who treat women as second class citizens, disgusts me.

"Women are more educated then men? LOL. Okay, whatever you say. That's a nice, snooty attitude you have, and that will do fine to ruin any chance you have of ever being in an honest relationship. Respect is important, and with your comments, you show yourself to be a typical man-basher, who looks down her nose at men. You anger also reveals this. "

Here's an article concerning attracting young people to mid sized cities... http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-08-cities-women_x.htm It basically states that women in Gen X and Gen Y are better educated, more likely to attend and complete college, and more desirable for these cities than young men. I wish the opposite was the case as it would improve my chances of getting married.

""Dead end job"? So you'd rather be alone, and single, instead of enjoying the love and comfort of a family? Marriage isn't about being rich, my dear, it's about much more important things than money. I think, with your anger and your attitude, you will never find those things, and I feel sad for you. I hope you find some comfort in material possessions and social rung climbing, but I doubt it, meanwhile, all those guys in "dead end" jobs will be going home at night to loving families and a life of happiness and prosperity you will never understand or know. "

Or perhaps they're stressed by the fact that they cannot pay their bills and have over twenty thousand dollars in credit card debt??? However, I digress. I'm sure that many of those men have wives and children who love them, but they're probably not college educated women. I'm sure that for someone who lives in a trailer park or an inner city ghetto, a guy who works as a mechanic is a good catch.

[Accygirl]

:)