Love,Sex, and Family - Assignment Example

The article by Edin and Kefalas shows that many poor women have children outside of marriage because they insist on marrying well instead of marrying to anyone. Poor women usually partner with men from the same social class; however, their marriage expectations are higher than their partners can give them. Moreover, there is an issue of the lack of trust in relationships between poor women and men. This lack of trust is cause by a number of issues like infidelity, unemployment, drugs, alcohol and delinquency.

Many poor women perceive their children as the chance to change. Children give them a sense of purpose in life and a different point of view on what they do. Overall, they change their lives to the better.Divorce is one more issue why poor women postpone their marriages. «To have a wedding just to have divorce» is treated as the biggest problem in getting married. Poor women understand that choosing a husband from their social class, they guarantee a quick end of their relationships. Instead of getting married, they try to gain financial independence in order to boost the quality of life for their family and get more life opportunities.

Poor women want a high quality marriage that should not end in divorce. Having enough life experience they try to get ready for the situation when they have to live on their own and be financially independent. Divorce is treated very negatively because it ruins the stability of the family. The article by Edin and Kefalas clearly shows that marriage expectations are becoming higher in all social classes. Poor women also want to have good life in a marriage as they describe it as an ideal picture with their detached house and a white fence around it.

Considering the fact that many women who have children outside of marriage marry to someone one day proves that the power of marriage as an institution has not faded away. Work CitedEdin, Kathryn, and Maria Kefalas. "Unmarried with children." Contexts 4.2 (2005): 16-22.