Kefalas 'Article,' Unmarried With Children

In the article “Unmarried with Children” the authors Edin, Kathryn and Maria Kefalas, discuss with a young girl named Jen Burke the struggles of becoming a mother at a young age without any education, husband or much money. The question “why do they have children while still young and unmarried when they will face such an uphill battle to support them?” is asked and Jen opens up about why she chose to make the decisions that she did. I chose this article because I relate to it. Although I did not grow up in the same social setting as Jen, we are both young women unmarried with children. Kathryn Kefalas is a Professor in the Department of Sociology. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University in 1991. Professor Marie Kefalas earned her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College in economics, her master's degree and doctorate in Sociology from the University of Chicago, and her post-doctoral fellowship at …show more content…
The purpose to this article is to get some insight on why young women chose to have children so young without being married, knowing that life is going to be hard. Jen explains while being interviewed, that in her neighborhood having a child young gives you a “badge of honor” meaning that it almost makes her look cool. And although it is hard, it gives people a sense a purpose, something to live for. One good point the authors make is “1 in 3 children are born to those who are least likely to support a child on their own.” This is a very interesting statement because all of these young women know they cannot afford a baby on their own, but yet so many of them still choose to have a child, knowing they will have to depend on others to help them. Jen the young woman from the article