W. Bradford Wilcox wrote an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal that was published on May 22 in the opinion’s section:

According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. — after witnessing a 14-year decline in teenage childbearing from 1991 to 2005 — saw the number rise from 2005 to 2007. In 2007, the latest year for which data are available, about 450,000 adolescents gave birth.

Now, lets also take into account that teenaged abortions (aged 19 and younger) are almost 20% of all abortions in the US according to the CDC.  Back to the article:

"Let’s hope this sobering news on teen births serves as a wake-up call to policymakers, parents and practitioners," said Sarah Brown, CEO of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, "that all our efforts to convince young people to delay pregnancy and parenthood need to be more intense, more creative and based more on what we know works."

Earth to Ms. Brown – The teenaged pregnancy numbers were much, much lower when sex wasn’t sold to them in high schools and condoms weren’t dished out like candy.  We must also address the fact that more high school are legally helping the teenagers get contraception without their parents knowledge now a days.  Do you think that could be it?  Hello?  Anyone in there?

Last week, the CDC reported that about 40% of American children were born out of wedlock in 2007 (1.7 million children born out of wedlock)…… Moreover, the vast majority of these babies — 60%, to be precise — were born not to teenagers but to women in their 20s (only 23% of nonmarital births were to teens). Furthermore, the CDC reports that nonmarital childbearing has been rising much faster among adults than among teenagers.

You mean, the more “education” we are getting on “family planning” at a younger age, the worse the rate of out of wedlock children are born?  Does it really take an Einstein to put two and two together on this one?

Stephanie Coontz, the director of research at the Council on Contemporary Families….."policymakers and researchers need to discard one-size-fits-all generalizations about the causes, consequences, risks and benefits of different family forms.”

Silvia Henriquez, the executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health….”(resist temptation to) "present single motherhood as a problem in itself."

(T)he arguments put forward by Ms. Coontz, Ms. Henriquez and other academics and advocates do not have science on their side. For instance, Sara McLanahan at Princeton University and her colleagues have found that boys who are raised by single mothers are twice as likely to end up in prison by age 32, that girls who are born outside of marriage are three times as likely to have a teenage pregnancy, and that teens born outside of marriage are about twice as likely to drop out of high school, compared with their peers who are raised in intact, married families.

Exactly how do these statistics fit into the idea that single parenting is perfectly fine and morally acceptable?  One way to know if something is bad for us as a society is to look at its failures and successes.  I see far more failures here.  Unfortunately it is our children that are paying the highest price to our selfishness. 

It is true that most of the recent growth in nonmarital childbearing has been driven by births to cohabiting couples. But cohabiting couples are notoriously unstable, in large part because their relationships are not anchored by the legal, social and moral commitments associated with marriage. One study by Pamela Smock at the University of Michigan and Wendy Manning at Bowling Green State University found that 50% of children born to cohabiting parents saw their parents part by age 5, compared with only 15% of children born to married parents.

And as both parents and scholars know, such instability is hard on young children. Not surprisingly, a growing body of research on cohabitation and child well-being indicates that kids who spend time in cohabiting unions are significantly more likely to experience emotional problems, school failure and physical and sexual abuse than children in intact, married homes…..

There is a wonderful scene in the TV show Dharma and Gregg that was on TV about 10 years ago (has it been that long?)  Fast set up – Dharma is raised by a cohabitating couple who do not break up.  There are a few episodes concerning this and the parents begin to wonder if they should get married after 20 something odd years together.  Dharma pushes for them to do it.  When her mother asks why it is so important she tells them that her life was completely unstable.  She was told by her parents that they were together because the “wanted” to be together, not because some piece of paper said they “had” to be together.  Dharma said it was horrible for her to wake up every morning wondering if today was the today her parents would no longer “want” to be together.  This got me thinking about how unstable these relationships are to our children.  There is no real commitment of any kind that the children can see.

So what is driving the upward spike in nonmarital childbearing? Some groups, such as the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, have been focusing on contraceptive failures among young adults. It is true that most nonmarital pregnancies are unintended. But the percentage of unmarried, sexually active women who have been using contraception has increased significantly over the past four decades, according to a study by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Anyone here surprised?  The higher the contraception use, the higher the unintended pregnancies.  Doesn’t really fit into the Planned Parenthood slogan does it?

Other reasons the author notes for this rise in unwed parents is the fact that people are postponing marriage, but not sex or cohabitation.  Another example is that the meaning of marriage has changed from the “foundation” of adulthood to a mere capstone that a person has arrived financially, professionally and emotionally. 

Basically instead of thinking of marriage as an “us” we are thinking of marriage as a “me with someone else”.  A very selfish way to look at life.  We are not the center of our own lives, sorry to break that news to you.

It is so sad that we are still refusing to see what is causing this when it is practically screaming in our faces.  An identity of only “me” causes problems but an identity of a “community” doesn’t.  They called the 1980’s the “me” generation and look what has happened because we didn’t change the “me” to a “we”. 

****1st picture – Time Magazine cover in 1985

****2nd picture – People magazine cover in 1999

****3rd picture – OK magazine cover in 2007

Do you think we will ever learn?