Discussion on Unmarried Parents

It is true that marriage rates are decreasing with each passing year. One would assume
that marriage rates are decreasing because people of marriage age value it less than before.
However, as Gibson-Davis et al. (3) notes, this is not the case. People still place a lot of value in
marriage and actually plan to get married some time in the future.

What I found interesting about the discussion were the reasons provided why unmarried
parents chose not to marry after getting a kid. Gibson-Davis et al. (3) argues that concerns about
relationship stability and finances play a key role in their choice to delay marriage. I think that
concerns about relationship stability affects every person who is planning to marry their partners.
The fear of divorce or being stuck in an unfulfilling marriage applies to everyone. Additionally,
as Dr. Edin (Single Mothers) notes, even when the relationship seems stable low income parents
my choose to forego marriage if it is likely to have negative effects on their financial situation.

Given the high barriers to marriage resulting from relationship and financial concerns of
unmarried parents, it seems to me that such parents may take a very long time to get married or
may never get married at all. As a result, we are going to witness continued drop in marriage
rates without a corresponding drop in birth rates. In any case, as Dr. Edin (Single Mothers) notes,
married and unmarried parents have roughly the same number of children. Given the benefits of

Surname 2
having children grow up in families with both parents and the desire for unmarried parents to get
married, perhaps it is time policy makers initiated programs that ease entry of unmarried parents
into the job market.

Surname 3

Works Cited

Edin, Kathryn. Interview by Patty Satalia. “Single Mothers.” YouTube. YouTube, 9 July. 2009.
Web. 4 Nov. 2019.

Gibson-Davis, Christina M., et al. “High Hopes but Even Higher Expectations: The Retreat From
Marriage Among Low-Income Couples.” Journal of Marriage & Family, vol. 67, no. 5,
Dec. 2005, pp. 1301-1312. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005. 00218.x.