I have to tell a story. A few years ago I worked for a university theater presentation company and Ann Coulter came to speak. A couple minutes into her talk or whatever someone in the audience tried to throw a pie at her (he missed, was charged with something, and ruined our scrim, but good try, I guess). Let me tell you, for a women with such skinny legs she can move. One of our regulars noted (he wasn't there he saw it on the news), "Apparently, she used to having to duck."

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I saw her clip with Matt Lauer. She may not cite her sources, but regarding single mothers and family disruption...there are actual social scientists and journalists who LOATH the likes of Reagan and Anne Coulter but have written extensively on the overlapping negative consequences disrupted families, economic instability, and lack of parental resources (harder for single parents to supervise kids or provide income; and if the "marriage pool" is so shitty for poorer women, then why have children with men who are neither fit to be husbands OR fathers?) on children and adolescents.

Journals like "The Future of Children" have plenty of information documenting it...the same liberals she's lambasting have written about everything from the quandary of single-parent families (headed by women who are disproportionately likely to have a high school degree or less, to be poor BEFORE the now have the burden of caring for a financial dependent, and to have limited contact with the father of the kids) to the fact that--despite what Sherri suggested--someone may be informed about birth control, but may not feel any obligation to use it.

(Not that we're trying--seriously, do other countries have those home ec type classes that simulate the difficulties of raising a child? Do WE have them in the U.S.? Do they affect behavior?)

Even if they're not mature enough or they're barely able to support and care for themselves people may see no disincentive to unsafe sex (pregnancy, STIs, whatever) or getting pregnant. That goes for both genders, but the burden naturally falls harder on women by virtue of the fact that THEY'RE the ones who bear children. The only way fathers bear consequences is through child support laws (if they're enforced).

The messenger here (Anne) is a screeching piece of shit but the notion that poor single parent families DO have a strong impact on social work/child welfare demands, juvenile crime, child poverty rates and other negative outcomes for children isn't totally baseless.

Married/cohabitating couples with children can be poor (and deserve help....this marriage-as-panacea stuff isn't a complete substitute for a stronger safety net but it wouldn't hurt if people were more conscientious of the family circumstances they might bring a child into) but it's a no-brainer that single parents (especially those who get little support from the second parent) have an even greater chance of raising their children in poverty.

And again, for those who point out that the "marriage pool" for poorer women is crappy -- that may be so, but does that it any less problematic when neither parent really plans or examines the family conditions they might bring their would-be offspring into, to bear children without ever considering whether your partner is fit or committed to being a PARENT (let alone a spouse)?

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