Any cultural clue?! sentence clarification, please!

[faryan]

Hi dear all!
There are some rationales behind "single parents families" which may be germane to some cultural clues and is somewhat intricate to me. I wonder if anyone could clarify some elements of the below sentence.

"Single parents families are generally the result of divorce and separation, out-of-wedlock birth, and male unemployment"

Aren't the last two factors the reasons for so-called "divorce and separation"?
Does each one lead the common life to both divorce or separation the same way?
What are the consequences of "out-of-wedlock birth" and "male unemployment"?

Thanks

 

[5jj]

We normally speak of 'single parent[STRIKE]s[/STRIKE]families.

"Single parents families are generally the result of divorce and separation, out-of-wedlock birth, and male unemployment"

Aren't the last two factors the reasons for so-called "divorce and separation"?

Sometimes. Many other things lead to divorce and separation,

Does each one lead the common life to both divorce or separation the same way?

I don't understand the question.

What are the consequences of "out-of-wedlock birth" and "male unemployment"?

Well, single parent families are one result.

You appear to have misunderstood what was said.

In some families, there is only one parent. This situation may be a consequence of:

divorce: one parent has left.
separation: one parent has left.
out-of-wedlock birth: the father was never around.
male unemployment: the unemployed father may have walked out, or moved away to find work.

 

[BobK]

:up:

...
"Single parent[STRIKE]s[/STRIKE] families are generally the result of divorce and separation, out-of-wedlock birth, and male unemployment"

Aren't the last two factors the reasons for so-called "divorce and separation"? Usually just the second. The first could happen - the (unmarried) father leaves because his partner won't have the pregnancy terminated. I suspect this is much less common than the Daily Mail thinks. ;-)
Does each one lead the common life to both divorce or separation the same way? :-?
What are the consequences of "out-of-wedlock birth" and "male unemployment"? See above.

...

b

 

[Barb_D]

I was struggling to understand how male unemployment created a single-parent family.

Your analysis omits the women who are ready to be parents but who do not not have a life partner, so they become pregnant and single by choice. While technically an "out of wedlock" birth, it does not have to imply the male partner left when he learned of the pregnancy.

 

[emsr2d2]

There are plenty of women who become pregnant with little or no intention of living with the father - the presence of a child means that they receive more handouts from the government. Whilst even this might not be quite as prevalent as the Daily Mail makes out (!), there's a lot of it about. :-(

 

[SoothingDave]

I was struggling to understand how male unemployment created a single-parent family.

Your analysis omits the women who are ready to be parents but who do not not have a life partner, so they become pregnant and single by choice. While technically an "out of wedlock" birth, it does not have to imply the male partner left when he learned of the pregnancy.

The welfare state is more generous to the unwed mother than it is to a married couple with an unemployed male. If you have a lot of unemployed men (for whatever reason), they aren't likely to marry their paramours.

 

[Barb_D]

And again, what about the financially independent woman who simply chooses to have a chlid, with no intention of seeking government welfare? There are single women able to provide for themselves and their children. Really.

 

[SoothingDave]

And again, what about the financially independent woman who simply chooses to have a chlid, with no intention of seeking government welfare? There are single women able to provide for themselves and their children. Really.

I don't doubt that these exist.

But, the original post does say "generally." And, as you noted, these independent single women are a subset of "out-of-wedlock" births. They may choose it that way, but it is still "out-of-wedlock."

 

[5jj]

But, the original post does say "generally." And, as you noted, these independent single women are a subset of "out-of-wedlock" births. They may choose it that way, but it is still "out-of-wedlock."

True, but to me 'out of wedlock' has a very old-fashioned ring to it. I'm surprised I did not comment on this before. Perhaps it was because I can't think of a better term for 'out-of-wedlock birth' in the original post.

 

[emsr2d2]

I haven't heard the term "out of wedlock" used seriously (except perhaps in a TV show or film set many decades ago) for a very long time. Once upon a time, it was seen as a terrible slur on a woman's character to have a baby, or even to fall pregnant, before marriage. Now, it's irrelevant.

Sorry, Barb, yes there are plenty of single women who have a child and are more than able (financially) to bring it up.

 

[faryan]

Thank you all. The discussion was really informative and illuminative...
Although dear 5jj somehow clear the clouds about "male unemployment" - that was utterly interesting-, would you please shed more light on this element? As dear Bard-D stated how male unemployment can lead into a single parent family?
Does it the merely imply that it would result in single parent family because the father may leave home to find work? any other connotation?

Thanks

(What I meant by my second question was "Do out-of-wedlock birth and male unemployment influence the quality of couple's life the same way? -Sorry for the mix-up; actually I've already got the answer-)

 

[5jj]

5jj somehow clear the clouds about "male unemployment"

I was merely trying to suggest what the writer might have meant. Personally, I see no correlation between male unemployment and single parent families.

 

[emsr2d2]

The only correlation I can imagine is that some long-term unemployed men become so depressed about their inability to "provide for the family" that they think it is better to leave the family home, either to disappear completely or to live alone. Their rationale might be that they are giving the woman a chance to find an employed man to start a new relationship with, one who can provide for the woman and child(ren).

In most Western cultures, I would say that the man being the sole provider is a rather outdated idea. In plenty of families where the husband is unemployed, the wife works instead and the husband stays home to look after the children.

There are many reasons for the existence of single-parent families and I think the original piece tried to simplify it too much.

 

[Tdol]

The last time I can remember hearing the term used was 1978: http://www.discogs.com/Jah-Wobble-Dreadlock-Dont-Deal-In-Wedlock/release/871299

 

[BobK]

True, but to me 'out of wedlock' has a very old-fashioned ring to it. I'm surprised I did not comment on this before. Perhaps it was because I can't think of a better term for 'out-of-wedlock birth' in the original post.

I think the writer may have had the same problem: I agree that 'out of wedlock' has an old-fashioned ring to it [and, irrelevantly, 'ring' suggests a view of marriage as based on enslavement], but I think we're stuck with the word if we want to express that view - which, as Ems said, is a rather quaint one. ;-)

b