Posted on 01/16/2007 10:04:04 AM PST by shrinkermd
For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.
In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000.
Coupled with the fact that in 2005 married couples became a minority of all American households for the first time, the trend could ultimately shape social and workplace policies, including the ways government and employers distribute benefits.
Several factors are driving the statistical shift. At one end of the age spectrum, women are marrying later or living with unmarried partners more often and for longer periods. At the other end, women are living longer as widows and, after a divorce, are more likely than men to delay remarriage, sometimes delighting in their newfound freedom.
In addition, marriage rates among black women remain low. Only about 30 percent of black women are living with a spouse, according to the Census Bureau, compared with about 49 percent of Hispanic women, 55 percent of non-Hispanic white women and more than 60 percent of Asian women.
In a relatively small number of cases, the living arrangement is temporary, because the husbands are working out of town, are in the military or are institutionalized. But while most women eventually marry, the larger trend is unmistakable.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I cannot believe how many women I run into who are single mothers by choice.
I guess the fruits of women's liberation are finally here.
I thought this was the feminist goal?
And of course, women are living longer than men...
Well when they have the $$$ from the father and none of the obligations; I'm sure they are happy.
Child support collection makes the IRS look tame.
Gloria "Fish without a Bicycle" Steinem must be awfully proud.
That's makes them a minority. That makes them a protected class. It's now hate speech to say anything against them.
Being married is slavery and a husband's death causes delight.
Thanks for the subtlety, MSM.
Are they happy?
I like being a stay home mom and wife. It's the best job in the world. I only have to work one job instead of two.
Why do most married men die before their spouses?...............Because they want to.
The fish does without the bicycle as long as the fish can have a significant portion of the bicycle's earnings.
Hell - too many of the women out there not only don't have a husband, or think they don't need a husband - actually couldn't attract an intelligent or responsible husband..
Who in hell wants to marry the current version of "woman" that far too many women in America represent?
Tattooed, half naked in public, jumping into the sack with at the drop of a hat and then burdened with the result of that "free and self expressive" life...
Loud, uncouth, unclean, unnatural, unfeminine, tattoos, bastard children in tow, drug dependent and a potential carrier of STDs...
American women have been ill served by the "feminist" movement..
Look how many men are looking elsewhere for a wife..
Semper Fi
Throw in the guys who watch the tube all the time, and the number of spouseless women goes up.
And spousal and 'child support' payments
Not all women are without spouses by choice. Steinem herself has been widowed for the last three years.
In an ideal feminist's world -- a woman will have possession of the man's house, car, kids,money, yacths, jet ..whatever else, she will sleep with a different man each week and have at least one abortion every year 8 months into her pregnancy ..hopefully they will be twins each time so she can get 2 for 1 deals.
"WHO"S YOUR DADDY NOW?"
Why the government...of course!
Am I inferring correctly from the article that the article thinks women want it this way?
I'd like to know what percent of each sub-group want to be without spouse and what percent want to be with spouse? I'll bet there are significant percentages in both the Yes and No columns.
Group Want to be with a spouse
. . . . . . . Yes No
Never Married
Divorced, etc
Work/Military, etc
Widowed, etc
So one question to ask is why women who want to be with a spouse refuse to settle on a man who wants them and why women hold out for some idealized prince charming.
Another question is why some women do not want to be with a spouse. Do they really prefer the single life? Or have they given up on finding prince charming? Or what?
In both my IT and white collar contacts, and in my blue collar contacts, virtually every available woman wants to be with a spouse, but wants something different/better than the many available men she meets. The available men are typically boring hard workers, nerds, geeks, etc. The women are looking for someone who will both provide money and ENTERTAIN them, be romantic, etc. The hard working available men are not Hugh Grant, not even Fedex.
Oh yea, living off that child support is real easy. And that's when you actually GET the child support.
Makes it sooooo much easier for me to get dates. :)
Always look for the upside to stuff!
lots easier to get all the welfare when single. free food, cash assistance, medical insurance, cheap housing, utilities paid, free daycare, huge tax breaks, etc.
also, child support is not counted when looking at their income. A woman could be getting thousands a month in child support, but working part time for low pay, and get everything handed to her by the government. All she has to pay for is her car.
Woooooooow.
Boys especially need a father in the home, both as a role model, and as a disciplinarian. So many social ills can be traced to this phenomenon.
Does that mean 49% of men live without a spouse?
In the distant past, women needed men to hunt the game, plant/harvest the crops, etc.
Men in turn needed a woman to cook and preserve food, make clothes, etc.
Nowadays we have WalMart.
How do we know that wasn't by choice? Any ethylene glycol in the toxicology reports?
I can't believe how badly most of them want a date.
"Look how many men are looking elsewhere for a wife.. "
I looked around at the folks I know, not a one is "looking elsewhere" for a wife...I wonder about guys that need to "look elsewhere", I suspect something wrong with them...
I was a single mom once and I hated it! I'm no longer a single mom and choose to live with a wonderful man, husband, father. More women need to see that children need a family!
Heh Heh - Child Support is but one piece of the huge redistribution puzzle.
they can get the financial support through alimony and child support, with none of the responsibilities associated with having the husband living at home. in many cases, this was exactly the reason they got married in the first place - this was their plan.
HUH? You want to explain that?
Lymphoma of the brain is a tough way out, so I am sure it was not by choice. Your joke is feeble, but it may be the best you can do. :)
why are tattoos part of your equation?
That's a strong factor, too. I know many people who insist they are 'great catches' but the opposite sex leaves them alone, or when they get to know them they run away. This is true for men and women. A person tends to be rejected by the opposite sex for substantive, rather than shallow reasons.
Another handicap many single mothers have is that many men just don't want to get involved in a long term relationship with a woman with children. Not all, but many. I know I never would.
for every woman without a "spouse" there is a man without a spouse....it goes both ways.....
the Playboy philosophy is coming full cirle....
and people will say that morality has nothing to do with anything......
49% of men breathe a sigh of relief.
Oh my... I guess I'm going to be hit big time, but I am a single woman... divorced after raising our family. I have a wonderful job that requires travel about 50% of the time. I never would have done that with a husband and/or family. So I am enjoying seeing the world!
My marriage was horrible at the end and I was hurt deep to the core. I'm not willing to experience that kind of hurt ever again. I am enjoying my freedom and my life in a way I never thought possible.
I am free to serve the Lord in the way He directs. I am free to enjoy my grandkids to the fullest and can for the first time in my life, enjoy friendships.
I am not ugly or stupid or crude or any of the other negative traits another poster suggested as a reason for not having a husband. I just choose to be single. I was married and would have remained so because I believe that is what you do as directed by God. He divorced me, but I still believe that he was my husband... now he is no longer but that doesn't give me a reason to take another.
The Lord has provided for me in a way that no man could do. Would I have liked to have that perfect marriage? Sure, I love family and my dream was to have the American family.
Fortunately in this day and age, marriage isn't the only way to financial security, there are so many other reasons to be married. I just choose my very peaceful and fulfilled single life.
That is the common joke but study has proven that men do not go to the doctor more often when there is something wrong. Also my experience with Diabeties has shown that men don't follow the doctors orders when they should.
well sure, divorce some unemployed bum and it isn't there. but divorce an employed man, a professional with a decent income - and believe me, they pay - unless they want to be fugitives the rest of their lives.
But the fact is that there are also many single, conservative, religous, intelligent, attractive women with no tatoos who want to get married and claim that they "can't find a good man." And the fact is that in the same church or workplace or group of casual contacts are equally conservative, hard working single men who want a good woman.
But the woman doesn't want that guy. She wants someone else she hasn't met yet.
The percentage of men who pay support is MUCH higher then the number who do not.
and the hard working available women are not going to be Jessica Simpsons ....
Why do all these threads become anti-woman..like all these women wanted to divorce their husbands. I'd like to know the statistics about who usually leaves whom.
Yeah, they want a wife that will actually respect the institution of marriage and that won't bleed them bone-dry.
I mean, how sick is that??? (/sarc)
Nah, child support will cover that.
this was exactly the reason they got married in the first place - this was their plan.
____
You really need to upgrade the type of women you hang around.
Makes it sooooo much easier for me to get dates. :)
No kidding. Hey ladies, I'm single and ready to mingle.
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