Pregnancy out of Wedlock

Pregnancy Out of Wedlock

Diamond White, Brehana Griffin, Dereikus Smith, Latifatu Zakaria

Sociology

University of West Georgia

April 7, 2015

Introduction

White

Women, no matter what, in society get judged for anything they do. Pregnancy out of wedlock is no exception, especially in religious beliefs such as Christianity. Different views are paired with different age groups with out of wedlock pregnancies. Teenagers for instance may be more harshly judged more than a thirty year old, who has established her career. Today, more people have become more accepting of out of wedlock pregnancies.

Many factors contribute to unmarried pregnancies. These factors include poverty and single-parent households. Being extremely poor can leave people with a lack of resources. Needing those resources may cause young girls to perform sexual activities for those missing resources. Young girls with divorced parents have a higher chance to have an unplanned pregnancy. These young girls often do not have a role model to look up to nor do they have anyone to look after them. Freedom from your parent or parents is also a factor for unplanned pregnancy. Attending college, going out of town or being separated from your family are examples of freedom. Once away from their tight hold, you are able to experience situations from a different perspective. Having more freedom has caused young girls to behave in risky behavior or sexual activities.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned pregnancy does the research on the resources that can be used on college campuses to prevent this issue. The issue of pregnancy in college causes many women to not finish their education. Not being able to finish their education puts them at a higher risk of living in poverty. There are a multitude of reasons why women without a college education choose to have children outside of marriage. Sometimes having a child is not always planned, it could be unintentional.

In the U.S., an enormous generation of children is being born out of wedlock. Changing that in the immediate future could happen but values would have to change. The groups with the highest illegitimacy rates are the groups that are struggling economically and educationally. The proportion of births to unmarried women has increased greatly. Women who give birth outside of marriage tend to be more disadvantaged than their married counterparts, both before and after the birth. Unmarried mothers generally have lower incomes, lower education levels, and are more likely to be depend on welfare compared mothers who are married.

Older women who have an established career are able to take care of their children without having to be married to a man. A women who gets her education and waits to get married and pregnant have a higher chance of making a better salary. The views on older women who are pregnant out of wedlock are still disapproving but they are less disapproving than teenagers out of wedlock. Women in society gravitate towards being accepted in society. Sex is an easy way for women to gain attention and acceptance, even if it is just for a small amount of time. Younger women who are still trying to get an education are going to be observed in a harsher way because they are so young. They most likely have no education or the minimum education of a high school diploma, which will keep them working at a minimum wage salary.