Suchergebnisse

This study explores the attitudes to marriage and child‐bearing held by women graduates born 1957–62. It is argued that this is a group of women for whom economic and cultural pressures to enter marriage are low, due to changes in social structures and the availability of a feminist philosophy that provides an alternative value system to patriarchy. With extrinsic pressures to marry so reduced, what factors determine the marriage and family decisions that they make? Interviews with a small sample of these women provide some strong pointers. Marriage at an appropriate age and to an appropriate partner was seen as providing substantially more benefits than costs. Delaying marriage until personal identity had been achieved was considered very important, with independent living, work and overseas travel contributing to identity formation. Supportiveness and egalitarianism were considered crucial qualities in a spouse, and those who were married had tended to marry men who were as or more ambitious for their wives than for themselves. An overall attitude of entitlement‐with‐organisation emerged. The increase in socioeconomic differences among women‐in‐their‐own‐right is discussed.

The last two decades have seen a dramatic growth in the proportion of families headed by women. Most of these families are poor and include dependent children--causing the development of a large underprivileged class across the western world. This book explores the causes and implications of this development. Because the increase in mother-headed families is an international trend, an international perspective has been adopted. The discussion centers on selected countries where certain trends are most visible. Among the western nations particular attention is given to the United States, Sweden