Congratulations to Harlow Rose Huntingon, first Nashville baby of 2021 and born to married parents.

Ashley and Rashon Huntington with new baby Harlow Rose

 by Rod Williams - Every year, the news media announces with fanfare the first baby born in Nashville in the new year.  This year, Harlow Rose Huntington was born at 12:02 AM at Tri-Star Summit Medical Center here in Nashville. (1)

I have noticed that in some years, the media will feature the mother and baby and not mention a father at all.  I assume those are single mothers and there is no father in the photograph and I assume there is no father in the picture. 

We hear a lot about income inequality in American and we blame it on racism or capitalism or some other perceived fault of the system in which we live.  It is not nice to "blame the victim," but if people were honest, we would have a lot less poverty if there were fewer out of wedlock births. Instead of judging out of wedlock births negatively however, we praise "single mothers."  

Unfortunately, the term "single mothers" lumps together women who had children and who were never married and may not even know who the father is, in with divorced mothers, and widowed mothers.  I think that is a shame.  The widowed mother is to be honored; the women who irresponsibly got pregnant and brought a baby into the world without a father ought to be shamed. The distinction as to what type of "single mother" should be preserved whenever possible. 

About 4 out 10 children currently born in America are born to unwed mothers. Nearly two-thirds are born to mothers under the age of 30.  Some of these are born to mothers who are co-habituating with the father, so at least initially, the child does have a father in his life.  While the child with the most advantages in life is born to married parents, the child born to cohabitating parents is considerably better off than the child born to a solo mother.  Most children born out of wedlock are born to solo women, with no partner. This is more likely to be the case among Black children.   

Today 1 in 4 children under the age of 18, a total of about 15.7 million, are being raised without a father. The U.S. had the world's highest rate of children living in single-parent households (2).  The median income for families led by a single mother in 2018 was about $45,128, well below the $93,654 median for married couples. Three in 10 solo mothers are living in poverty. 

Children of single-parent households are at greater risk of dropping out of high school, have less chance of going to college, teen boys are at greater risk of becoming delinquents, and teenage girls have a greater risk of pregnancy. Everything from obesity to gang activity to suicide rates to incarceration rates as adults shows that children raised by single mothers are at greater risk of negative outcomes. 

Congratulations to baby Harlow Rose Huntington.  She has a better shot a good life than the baby born to a single mother down the hall. 

For more see link, and link.  The data on the disadvantages of being brought up in a fatherless household is overwhelming. 

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