Also, some adults do not end up getting married, almost 19 million Americans (Benokraitis, n.d., 3). Furthermore, children under the age of 18 living with two married parents went from 77 percent to 67 percent (Benokraitis, n.d, 3). That finding shows the increase of divorce among Americans. The article, “The Changing Landscape of Family”, states that women are spending less time with their children than before and there is a decrease in the number of children per family. This is partially because women have started to go back to work and the economy in the present day is not very stable so supporting a bigger family is not easily done.
Many pregnant illegal women count on state funded healthcare to receive prenatal care. The cost of prenatal care, delivery and post- partum care annually costs upwards of $42 million in Georgia alone (Birthright). Many American women apply for, and are denied, state healthcare benefits on the basis of their income. They make too much money to qualify for assistance, but not enough to pay the thousands of dollars it costs to have a baby in the United States. Many legal American women do not receive the adequate prenatal healthcare that illegal immigrant women receive.
Overall women are having less babies than they used to this is causing the birth rate in the UK to drop. In the 1960’s the average number of children being born went from 6 to 2.7. Women are also delaying having children in the 1970’s the average age for a women to have a child was 24 it is now 30. Some women are even choosing not to have children at
More children are born in Britain today outside of marriage than in most other European countries. This has been linked to many explanations such as; poor education in sexual health and the lack of knowlege on different types of contraceptives. Nearly a quarter of children lived with only one parent (25%) last year and nine out of ten of these households were headed by mothers. Dennis and Erdos believe that is is down to most families being fatherless, meaning they automatically have poor health and lower educational attainment, however this is only one theory. Another main reason is the simple fact people are marrying later for many reasons, more because of the change in attitudes towards education and religion (seclurisation).
This means women now have the choice whether to have a family or have a career. This have resulted in women having their first child at a later age as they have chose to focus on their career. The age that women now have their first child has gone up from 24 to 27.3 since the beginning of the 20th century. Laws such as compulsory schooling and the child labour introduced in the 20th century has now introduced the idea that children are no longer an asset to their families but an economic liability. This means children are now expensive to have and people do not have the money to have as many children as they used too.
Every day more people die in America than are born. Any increases in population since 1972 have been due to immigration.2 The sociological perils we face are not those of population explosion, but population reduction. The Population Research Institute agrees, and concluded, “Our long-term problem is not too many children, but too few children.”3 The legalization of abortion resulted in a drastic reduction of the number of children in this country. By 1980 there were 6.5 million fewer school-age children in America than just a decade earlier. This required the closing of nine-thousand elementary schools.4 Legalized abortion has resulted in over 46 million fewer taxpayers in America to support the elderly.
Latinos and Black works tend to have to work more than one job to make ends meet. When you have both parents working, possibly more than one job the support for their children’s education will also suffer. The opportunity for minorities to graduate from high school is less than a white student. The ability for minorities to go to college following high school is less than for white students. It is shown that the higher level of education the higher level of income.
Another change that has happened in childbearing since the 1970's is that women are having fewer children and children later in life. Between 1971 and 2005 the average age of a women when having her first child rose by three years. Also the average number of children per family went all the way down to 1.84 in the UK when 30 years back it was 2.95. Women are also choosing to remain childless and a prediction has been made that a quarter of people who were born in 1973 will be childless when they reach 45. This all reflects the changes in society since the 20th century and that women have more options
In 2005 the United States had higher infant mortality and maternal mortality rates than many other industrialized nations; ranked 30th in infant mortality and 20th in maternal mortality. Prenatal health care is considered one of the best preventive health care practices that could potentially reduce the risk of maternal mortality and infant death. During prenatal health care the mother can undergo risk assessment tests, treatment for current medical conditions, and valuable education. The health disparities amongst maternal mortality have been contributed to poverty, sociocultural factors and limited education. Women who live in areas of high poverty usually cannot afford adequate health care and when they become pregnant they are less likely to see a doctor
The government is allowing immigrants to enter the country with less than satisfactory education skills. Nearly 31 percent of foreign born residents over the age of twenty-five are without a high school diploma, compared to just 10 percent of native-born residents. Immigrants trail behind natives in college attendance. It wouldn’t make sense to grant permanent legal status and full job market to millions of unskilled immigrants. Journalist Sonia Nazario states, “Those harderst hit by the influx of immigrants are disadvantaged native-born minorities who don’t have a high school degree”(536).