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But when you look at the actual numbers, the highest percentage of the
total number of out of wedlock births is held by whites with 41
percent. Blacks hold 32 percent of that number and Hispanics hold 23
percent. In fact, if you take a look at the trend of out of wedlock births from 1980 until the end of the last century, you’ll find that the spike was more due to white illegitimate births.
During that time period, annual Black non-marital births increased by roughly 100,000, while the same group in the white community increased twofold, rising from 328,984 to 793,202.
My point? When many Americans, including Black Americans talk about out of wedlock childbirth, invariably the picture of a Black mother is conjured up, yet, the reality is contrary.
Now, earlier I asked why people would have children if they know that both the mother and the father are ill prepared.
I posed that question because when it comes to out of wedlock births, the majority is not happening to teen mothers who may know very little about how life works.
Out of wedlock childbirth is not synonymous with teen pregnancy. The portion of unwed mothers under the age of 18 is only 13.17 percent of the total.
The primary age group affected is 18 to 25, and actually, there are more out of wedlock births to women over the age of thirty than under the age of 18.
While the concept of the irresponsible father is widely touted, single mothers are not innocent victims of some man who, quoting Bill Cosby, is a "sperm-shooting machine," who wantonly impregnates women and "walks away from something called fatherhood."
Nearly 40 percent of childbirth out of wedlock involves a woman who is living with a man.
And, many of the births outside of marriage aren’t necessarily unplanned.
Nearly half of those pregnancies are intentional, with 34 percent occurring earlier than the mother planned and only 14 percent resulting from unwanted pregnancies.
In fact, the decline in marriage among young adult women has come hand in hand with a sharp increase in sexual activity outside of marriage.
Among non-married women from the age of 20 to 35, some 79 percent report being sexually active with 15 percent of that activity occurring without birth control.
Finally, roughly half of all out of wedlock births are second or third births for the mother.
What does this all mean?
It means a few things..
First, America must alter its view of out of wedlock childbirth and accordingly, it’s view of where the blame should lie.
Two people have sex and a child is born—both must be held equally responsible and liable, financially and otherwise
Secondly, society itself must take responsibility and according action to provide more sex education to the masses.
And, if the focus is given to assuring that more unmarried mothers and fathers understand the importance of having fathers in the lives of children, then perhaps the resulting work can be focused on decreasing the number of children born without stable relationships with their fathers.
It also means that the consequences of raising children without fathers must be examined clearly with pragmatic resolution as the goal.
- Darryl James is an award-winning author and is now a filmmaker. His first mini-movie, Crack, was released in March of this year.
- James’ latest book, "Bridging The Black Gender Gap," is the basis of his lectures and seminars.
- Previous installments of this column can now be viewed at www.bridgecolumn.com. James can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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