Why are births outside of marriage seen as a social problem by most Americans? Is the social stigma ...

Women between the ages of 15 and 24 constitute about 40 of the total population of women of childbearing age-yet they account for roughly 70 of births outside of marriage. More than a million teenage women become pregnant each year. Most of these pregnancies are unplanned and unwanted and result from misinformation or lack of access to birth control. Some parents still feel disgraced if their daughter becomes pregnant. Some single pregnant women (and their parents) view it as a problem because difficult decisions need to be made about whether to end the pregnancy. If it is decided not to have an abortion, decisions need to be made about adoption, continued education or employment, a possible marriage, living arrangements, and perhaps welfare assistance. Some people see birth outside of marriage as a social problem-a sign of a breakdown in the traditional family and a symptom of moral decay. Others assert that it is a problem mainly because the great majority of these children are born to women who are simply not yet prepared-by experience, education, or maturity-to be a parent or to provide for a family financially. Authorities who view birth outside of marriage as a problem for this reason are concerned about the effects on the child of being raised by a mother who is in many ways merely an older child herself. They are also concerned about the effects on the mother of trying to maintain a one-parent family with limited financial and personal resources. Finally, some authorities view birth outside of marriage as a problem because of the high cost to society of having to make welfare payments to large numbers of single-parent families.
The social stigma attached to birth outside of marriage is certainly not to either the child or the mother. On the other hand, some authorities have argued that the stigma is functional to society because it discourages births outside of marriage and thereby helps perpetuate the nuclear family, which provides a structure for the financial support and socialization of children. In response to this view, it can be argued that this punitive approach may not be the optimal way to reduce the incidence of births outside of marriage. The Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) asserts that a more effective approach would involve quality educational programs about responsible sexuality.