LOL Do you really wanna know what I think about young single moms?

Nonmarital childbearing reduces the likelihood of marriage.

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3428602.html

Out-of-wedlock births and divorces impoverish hundreds of thousands of American families. The median income for female-headed families is about one-third that of intact families.

As the following Census Bureau statistics establish, families headed by divorced mothers are, in general, doing much better than aggregate statistics suggest, and families headed by never-married mothers much worse.

Never-married mothers are also, on the average, much less educated. Only 61 percent of never-married mothers have a high school diploma compared to 83 percent of divorced mothers. This latter figure, too, is pulled down by the number of formerly unwed mothers who subsequently marry.

Thus, age, lack of education, and other demographic factors combine to give never-married women much poorer job prospects. In 1993, 58 percent of divorced mothers worked full-time, and an additional 12 percent worked part-time, but only 28 percent of never- married mothers worked full-time, and 1 1 percent part-time. And their lack of work experience is only exacerbated by the fact that young, single mothers have little chance of completing their education or acquiring job skills while. having to care for a child.

A much higher proportion of unwed mothers go on welfare than do divorced mothers.

Never-married mothers not only go on welfare in greater numbers than divorced women, but they also stay on longer. While divorced women typically use welfare as a temporary measure until they get back on their feet, unmarried mothers become trapped in long-term welfare dependency.



But much more than a divorce, an out-of- wedlock birth to a young mother seems to be a direct path to long-term poverty and welfare dependency.

The economic consequences of our high illegitimacy rate seem beyond debate. It is one thing when a divorced, high profile television newswoman on a sitcom has a baby without her ex-husband's financial support; it is quite another when a teenager or a young mother on welfare does. The difference, to put it bluntly, is money.

Acknowledging this dichotomy between divorced and unwed mothers is the first step toward developing effective social welfare policies. Both groups deserve our attention. But policies developed for each need to be based on a realistic understanding of the deep differences between them.

Levels of child support also vary markedly between these two groups of single mothers. In 1987, 77 percent of divorced mothers received child support awards, compared to only 20 percent of never- married mothers. The average annual payment to divorced mothers was $3,073, while the average payment to never-married mothers was $1,632.

http://www.welfareacademy.org/pubs/welfare/testimony-0395.shtml

Oh and the fact that you have probably read every one of my post, is a bit disturbing..can you say stalker?

Umm why would I be obsessed with you guys, or the single parents forums?

I do think the reason it hasn't been much of an issue for me is because I have my shit together. I got pregnant with my first at 14, my ex dissappeared for 4 years before he showed back up to be a father. He was of no physical or emotional support. I was 15, raising a baby alone, I still went to high school everyday, and graduated. I worked two part time jobs to support my son, I provided for him on my own. I put myself through college, and now have 2 degrees, and am a semester away from my 3rd, a degree in nursing.

My Dad just cried..then took him out on a gravel road held a gun to his head and said if he didn't take care of me and the baby he would kill him. I'm sure this is WHY when he split, he did it for 4 years and couldn't be found lol. My mom was sad, worried, scared for me, but also supportive on whatever choice I wanted to make, and allowed me to make that choice, which was to keep him. I didn't "want" to have a baby. I was a virgin, we dated 6 months, he pushed sex a lot and finally I gave in, the night I did, I got pregnant. I was 14, I knew how babies were made, but in the moment the thought never crossed my mind..