Synopses & Reviews
Unmarried motherhood: we debate it, discourage it, even legislate against it, yet it has continued to increase, in a steady rise that epitomizes the enormous changes of the last half-century. In 1950, only four percent of American babies were born to mothers who were not married, and many of these children were subsequently adopted. Almost fifty years later that figure is up to nearly a third of all births--more than one million babies each year--and their mothers, whether they are teen- agers or professionals in their forties, now usually raise these children on their own.
This rapid and staggering change in family formation is the target of much vigorously argued commentary, but too little commonsense analysis. Melissa Ludtke, a career journalist who has specialized in writing about children and the family, has finally produced the first in-depth, objective examination of this emotionally charged issue. The result of years of research as well as interviewing and questioning experts representing all sides of the issue, the book is nevertheless a deeply personal one, interweaving Ludtke's findings with her own decade-long debate over whether to raise a child on her own. Her accessible approach takes us behind the statistics, framing mothers' vividly told remembrances with current scholarly insights, but never losing sight of the private, everyday details of women's lives.
Recognizing that unmarried mothers come from widely differing age groups and backgrounds, Ludtke focuses on the two extremes: teenagers and women over the age of thirty-five. While examining their contrasting circumstances, she locates surprising areas of common ground among these women who, regardless of age or income, have chosen to bypass marriage and raise children on their own, in spite of the struggle and the loneliness, in spite of society's harsh judgment. This ambitious, insightful, and moving investigation has already been endorsed by political leaders, sociologists, doctors, and journalists as the essential book on unmarried motherhood in our time.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [439]-452) and index.
About the Author
Melissa Ludtke drew national attention in 1978, when, as a reporter for Sports Illustrated, she took Major League Baseball to court to gain women reporters equal access to athletes' locker rooms. She then became a correspondent for Time, where her articles, including more than twenty cover stories, focused on family and children. While researching and writing this book, she had fellowships at Harvard, Radcliffe, and the Columbia School of Journalism. Ludtke is a graduate of Wellesley College and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.