Executive Summary Report To Congress On Out Of Wedlock Childbearing September 1995

Nearly a third of all births occur outside of marriage. This report summarizes scientific information on non-marital fertility & addresses these questions: 1. what are the trends in non-marital childbearing? 2. what are the consequences of non-marital childbearing for children, adults, & for the public? 3. what are the causes of the dramatic increase in non-marital fertility, what factors have contributed to the upsurge in non-marital childbearing? how can we prevent pregnancy or childbearing among unmarried persons & what policies & actions should we take to ameliorate the negative consequences associated with non-marital childbearing & parenthood.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. In 2006, a record 38.5% of all U.S. births were non-marital births. Many of these children grow up in mother-only families. Children who grow up with only one biological parent in the home are more likely to be financially worse off and have worse socio-economic outcomes (even after income differences are taken into account) compared to children who grow up with both biological parents in the home. Contents of this report: Key Findings; Trends in Non-marital Births: 1940-2006; Numbers, Percentages, and Rates; Characteristics of Unwed Mothers; Fathers of Children Born Outside of Marriage; Reasons for the Increase in Non-marital Childbearing; Impact of Non-marital Births on Families; Public Policy Interventions; Future Prospects. Illus.

Katz shows how these changes are propelling America toward a future of increased inequality and decreased security as individuals compete for success in an open market with ever fewer protections against misfortune, power, and greed. And he shows how these trends are transforming citizenship from a right of birth into a privilege available only to the fully employed."--Jacket.

Widely praised as an outstanding contribution to social welfare and feminist scholarship, Regulating the Lives of Women (1988, 1996) was one of the first books to apply a race and gender lens to the U.S. welfare state. The first two editions successfully exposed how myths and stereotypes built into welfare state rules and regulations define women as "deserving" or "undeserving" of aid depending on their race, class, gender, and marital status. Based on considerable new research, the preface to this third edition explains the rise of Neoliberal policies in the mid-1970s, the strategies deployed since then to dismantle the welfare state, and the impact of this sea change on women and the welfare state after 1996. Published upon the twentieth anniversary of "welfare reform," Regulating the Lives of Women offers a timely reminder that public policy continues to punish poor women, especially single mothers-of-color for departing from prescribed wife and mother roles. The book will appeal to undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students of social work, sociology, history, public policy, political science, and women, gender, and black studies – as well as today’s researchers and activists.