My comments were in no way meant to absolve men from their responsibilities in child rearing and I did not mean to imply that single parenting is a pancea. My comments were in response to the wisdom of most mainstream economists, which is that there is no rationality at all in women having babies as teens and unwed. Given the reality that more and more men are deserting their responsibilities for the babies they create, a young woman's decision is not completely irrational. Further, the decisions of teens to have babies reflect a very different reality than that inhabited by academics of any stripe, including myself. maggie coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED] In a message dated 96-11-25 11:11:24 EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Eban Goodstein) writes: >3. While I agree with Maggie's comments that we should not overlook the >advantages of single parenting, and teen parenting in particular-- these >advantages seem to me to be second or third or fifth best adaptations to a >horrendous set of external constraints. It seems to me that this line of >argument accepts that men's exit from child-rearing is a given-- and >again, I would like to see us think about ways that fathers can be >discouraged from taking that option. > >Eban > > > > >Eban Goodstein email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Department of Economics phone: 503-768-7626 >Lewis and Clark College fax: 503-768-7379 >Portland, OR 97219 > > > >----------------------- Headers -------------------------------- >Return-Path: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Received: from anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu (anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu >LAA06782; Mon, 25 Nov 1996 11:10:32 -0500 >Received: from anthrax (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by anthrax.ecst.csuchico.edu >Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 08:09:24 -0800 (PST) >Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Originator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >From: Eban Goodstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [PEN-L:7560] Re: Technology Shock and Teen Pregnancy >X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas >X-Comment: Progressive Economics >Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII >MIME-Version: 1.0 --------------------- Forwarded message: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Eban Goodstein) Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 96-11-25 11:11:24 EST Here are a few responses-- 1. According to the Urban Institute, the non-marital birth rate increased from 26 to 45 per thousand, between 1970 and 1992. So there clearly has been a dramatic increase in non-marital births. 2. While I agree with the tenor of Jeff's comments that we should always keep in mind the social sources of and constraints on technology, the question as I see it here is, what were the effects of these *particular* technologies when they were introduced? The Akerlof and Yellen story seems interesting, though I don't know enough to say its persuasive. 3. While I agree with Maggie's comments that we should not overlook the advantages of single parenting, and teen parenting in particular-- these advantages seem to me to be second or third or fifth best adaptations to a horrendous set of external constraints. It seems to me that this line of argument accepts that men's exit from child-rearing is a given-- and again, I would like to see us think about ways that fathers can be discouraged from taking that option. Eban Eban Goodstein email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Department of Economics phone: 503-768-7626 Lewis and Clark College fax: 503-768-7379 Portland, OR 97219
