Non-marital child bearing

Janice Shaw Crouse writes that the Census Bureau is out with a report informing us that

62 percent of women ages 20-24 who gave birth in 2011 were unmarried. 57% of unmarried mothers lack a high school diploma. 70 percent of unmarried mothers earn less than $10,000 (which put them well below the poverty level and dependent upon welfare to survive). In short, the cold, hard fact is that unmarried mothers are less educated, have lower incomes, are predominantly black and Hispanic, and are located in poorer states or inner cities.

The nation's founding fathers first instituted a national census so that the nation could "mark the progress of society." They would roll over in their graves to see that the nation they founded with great hope and based on principles of personal and civic responsibility, instead of progressing, has instead become mired in reckless self-indulgence and thus regressed in terms of people's well being. We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars over the past four decades trying to alleviate the consequences of poor and irresponsible choices only to reap a harvest of greater dependency than ever before and several generations of children at risk for all the negative outcomes that parents hope to avoid (truancy, delinquency, substance abuse, etc). It is not merely the demographics of non-marital child bearing that need to be publicized but an honest, extensive reporting of the damages as well.

When the sum total of our morality, both personal and public, consists of not being judgmental, we should not be surprised to find that there is little will to be concerned with more than the pursuit of whatever brings a moment of pleasure today with no regard for the effects this will have for anyone's well-being tomorrow.

Hat tip Maggie's Farm