Single-parent (unwed mothers) births have gone up 700% in the last 50 years. Right now, if you went to an average hospital, four of every ten babies would have a single parent. Only six of ten babies have parents who are married to each other.
In the African-American community, the statistics are even more bleak, seven of ten babies have a single parent.
How did we get to this point?
It's a complex issue with many contributing factors - changing beliefs about premarital sex and cohabitation (living together without marrying), cultural acceptance of single-parents versus adoption, government benefits for children of single parents, and others.
This statistic is not going to change directions unless there is a wide-spread change of beliefs in the culture.
Right now, 60% of all ages in the U.S. believe that premarital sex is not wrong. Among 20-40 year-olds, 80% of non-Christians and 59% of born-again Christians believe that living together without marriage is morally acceptable. These views have changed dramatically in the last 50 years.
