Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage

The topics discussed in this book—declining marriage rates and rising rates of unwed motherhood—are considered serious social issues by US policymakers. Many elected officials believe that having children out of wedlock contributes to increased poverty levels, but sociologists Edin and Kefalas provide a different perspective. They flip cause and effect, suggesting that poverty and its associated issues such as drug use and domestic violence contribute to low marriage rates since these factors make male partners less attractive as long-term partners. They emphasize that addressing these systemic problems is necessary to improve marriage rates.

One aspect perpetuating poverty in the United States is the perspective that poverty is a moral issue. American identity is rooted in ideas like the Protestant work ethic and the United States as a land of opportunity—many people believe that anyone can achieve success through hard work, and so they view poverty as a choice or evidence of laziness. These ideas became particularly prevalent through the 1980s and 1990s, and the myth of the “welfare queen” relates specifically to these ideas about poverty and how they apply to childrearing and marriage. Popularized by Ronald Reagan during his 1976 presidential campaign, this harmful

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