How to limit your opportunity while having fun.

2014

Various organizations decry the condition of women, especially low income women. Here is an example. The facts speak for themselves, but the facts don’t explain how we have gotten to this condition. Following is some of that information as well.

How much harm do people do to themselves and in the process limit their own future and opportunity?

The average age of marriage is increasing to 26.5 years old for women and 28.7 years old for men. That’s up from ages 23 and 26 in 1990, respectively. But, the median age of first birth for a woman is now 25.7 — meaning that about 48 percent of first births happening outside of wedlock.

The information was presented in a report titled “Knot Yet: The Benefits and Costs of Delayed Marriage in America.” It was sponsored by the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and the RELATE Institute. Information was compiled from a number of studies and government surveys …

But, twenty-somethings aren’t waiting to have children, according to the report. Forty-four percent of American women will have given birth by the time they are 25, but only 38 percent are married by that age. By 30, two-thirds of women will have had a child out of wedlock.

The average age of first birth for women who drop out of high school is 20, while their average married age is 25. Eighty-three percent of first births to non-high school graduates are to unwed mothers.

The biggest rise in unmarried pregnancy is among the 54 percent of “middle American” women, which include women who have graduated high school and completed some college but do not have a degree. In this group, the average age of having their first child is 24, and they are married at 27. Fifty-eight percent of the first births in this group are to unwed mothers.

And nearly 50% of all births in America are paid for by Medicaid.