Category Archives: Families structures, divorce, etc

Mother Arrested For Leaving Nine-Year-Old In Park

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Ampersand

Lenore Skenazy of “Free Range Kids” reports: Debra Harrell works at McDonald’s in North Augusta, South Carolina. For most of the summer, her daughter had stayed there with her, playing on a laptop that Harrell had scrounged up the money … Continue reading →

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A few graphs about teen pregnancy and sex

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Ampersand

Just putting them out there for reference and discussion. While there was a substantial drop in the pregnancy rate for 15–17-year-olds and 18–19-year-olds between 2008 and 2010, pregnancies among 18–19-year-olds constituted the majority (69%) of teen pregnancies. During this same … Continue reading →

Posted in Abortion & reproductive rights, Families structures, divorce, etc | Comments Off  

Political cartoon: Marriage Fixes Everything!

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Ampersand

Description of cartoon: The cartoon depicts a young mother and her toddler, in a small and crappy-looking room. The woman is bent double under a load of boxes, trunks and bags, each of which is labeled: Unemployment, Lack of Education, … Continue reading →

Posted in Cartooning & comics, Class, poverty, labor, & related issues, Families structures, divorce, etc | Comments Off  

When Families Destroy Themselves From The Inside

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

On Tuesday of last week, I helped move my mother to her new house in New Jersey. This means that I am the last member of my family left in New York, and if you had told me fifteen years … Continue reading →

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What Do Cultural Traditionalists Offer LGBT People And Abused Women?

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Ampersand

There’s a teapot tempest going on over this Washington Post column. I basically agree with Conor Friedersdorf when he says “There Probably Isn’t Any Neutral Way to Report on Homosexuality.” A person who complains that the Washington Post’s “Date Lab” … Continue reading →

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Family Scholars Blog Symposium on Marriage Policy

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Ampersand

Family Scholars blog is having an online symposium on marriage policy, featuring responses to their new “State Of Our Unions” report from various folks with an interest in family and policy. One thing that’s interesting is that this is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and the like, Families structures, divorce, etc, Same-Sex Marriage | Comments Off  

Single Motherhood And Crime In One Graph

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Ampersand

At the Atlantic, sociology prof Philip Cohen provides this graph: Looking at it from the perspective of 1990, it was easy to assume a strong causal relationship between the rise in single motherhood and the murder epidemic. By my reading … Continue reading →

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Are Too-Strong Families Bad For Society?

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Ampersand

The ways that too-weak family ties can harm society are frequently noted. But what about the other extreme — can overly strong family ties also harm society? Mark Silk at Religious News Service writes: It has, of course, been an … Continue reading →

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The many differences between polygamy and same-sex marriage

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Ampersand

Does advocating for marriage equality for same-sex couples require us to also advocate for polygamy — that is, for legally recognized marriages of three or more people? I don’t think so; there are crucial differences between same-sex marriage and polygamy … Continue reading →

Posted in Families structures, divorce, etc, Same-Sex Marriage | Comments Off  

Adoption is not a woman’s sole decision

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Ampersand

Ozy Frantz is a writer I almost always agree with. But in zir excellent article “11 Ways Men Can Be Better Feminist Allies,” zie writes: 8) Support women’s bodily autonomy. On a political level, of course, one should fight pro-life … Continue reading →

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