Promises I Can Keep

Millie Acevedo bore her first child before the age of 16 and dropped out of high school to care for her newborn Now 27, she is the unmarried mother of three and is raising her kids in one of Philadelphia s poorest neighborhoods Would she and her children be better off if she had waited to have them and had married their father first Why do so many poor American youth like Millie continue to have children before they can afford to take care of them Over a span of five years, sociologists Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas talked in depth with 162 low income single moms like Millie to learn how they think about marriage and family Promises I Can Keep offers an intimate look at what marriage and motherhood mean to these women and provides the most extensive on the ground study to date of why they put children before marriage despite the daunting challenges they know lie ahead.Read an excerpt herePromises I Can Keep Why Poor Women Put Motherhood before Marriage, With a New Prefaceby Kathryn Edin and M by University of California Press Free Read [ Promises I Can Keep ] author [ Kathryn Edin ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Why in God s name are poor women so prone to having children early and out of wedlock On its way to answering this question, Promises I Can Keep offers middle class readers a view into a parallel universe of poverty and the choices it provokes As one reads of it, the rules governing this seemingly bizarre and counterintuitive world slowly become first logically consistent, then comprehensible and finally, intuitively obvious The answer, it turns out, is that when viewed from an underprivile Why in God s name are poor women so prone to having children early and out of wedlock On its way to answering this question, Promises I Can Keep offers middle class readers a view into a parallel universe of poverty and the choices it provokes As one reads of it, the rules governing this seemingly bizarre and counter...4.5 One of the best non fiction books I ve ever read that aims to illuminate something through sociological methods I lopped off half a star because much of the first half of the book can feel like one is reading a laundry list of opinions from women with citations as to where you can find their full story in the book Lots and lots of Deena, 18 year old mother of 2 children ages four and six covered in chapter 4 thinks I feel like the book probably could have been organized better 4.5 One of the best non fiction books I ve ever read that aims to illuminate something through sociological methods I lopped off half a star because much of the first half of the book can feel like one is reading a laundry list of opinions from women with citations as to where you can find their full story in the book Lots and lots of Deena, 18 year old mother of 2 children ages four and six covered in chapter 4 thinks I feel like the book probably could have been organized better in that regard but as you get farther the narrative is a lot less chopped up in that manner and you get larger parts of the stories.Regardless, it doesn t invalidate the importance of the opinions and life stories of the women and the incredible set of values and beliefs held by them I learned A LOT Edin and Kefalas completely smash the stereotypes about poor teenage and unwed mothers that those of us in the middle and upper cla...In times of economic uncertainty when 41% of births are to unmarried mothers in this country, poor single mothers are often vilified for their poor life choices Much is assumed about why they put motherhood before marriage, but Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas actually attempted to find out by spending five years living in the poor inner city neighborhoods of Philadelphia where poverty similarly affects women of various racial groups and interviewing poor single mothers Promises I can keep wh In ...Really interesting and definitely challenged my assumptions I was surprised by how the authors explain that the poor women wait for marriage because they have such a high view of marriage And how much they desire children and often plan the pregnancies or at least don t prevent them on purpose They so desire someone to care for and love and to love them in return And given their societal standings...What a beautiful book It is one of those few sociology books that makes an academic argument while remaining humane This book is an important ethnographic work which draws from conversations with 162 low income single mothers in the poor neighborhoods of Philadelphia and Camden This book certainly manages to debunk some popular myths about single mothers The title of the book articulates the primary research question driving this book Why do poor women put motherhood before marriage By fr What a beautiful book It is one of those few sociology books that makes an academic argument while remaining humane This book is an important ethnographic work which draws from conversations with 162 low income single mothers in the poor neighborhoods of Philadelphia and Camden This book certainly manages to debunk some popular myths about single mothers The title of the book articulates the primary research question driving this book Why do poor women put motherhood before marriage By framing the question this way, the authors already challenge one of the myths of non marital motherhood that motherhood is an indication of their victim hood The title itself suggests that poor women are choosing to be mothers first, rather than to be married The book begins with the three popular explanations that social scientists have pro...The sheer amount of work that went into Promises I Can Keep makes the book important I spent the last 30 minutes combing through its extensive bibliography, which is full of books, journal articles, and other primary sources like government reports The authors methodology, detailed in Appendix A, shows that they interviewed 162 low income mothers at least twice, sometimes thrice The interviews were fairly long and as personal as an interview gets A template for each interview is helpfully i ...Compelling qualitative study of low income women in Philadelphia and Camden and the curious way in which they build their families first by having children, then seeking economic stability, and then perhaps getting married I knew many of the facts presented but was surprised to learn that the life trajectory of girls growing up in these communities is pretty much the same whether they have children out of wedlock or not So much for the idea that they re destroying their futures by not wait Compelling qualitative study of low income women in Philadelphia and Camden and the curious way in which they build their families first by having children, then seeking economic stability, and the...First, I have to admit I m super biased This author was one of my professors and also my major adviser,and I had some poor experiences with both a favorite moment was when she was advising me Hmm you only got a B in Intro to Sociology, who was your professor You oh wow you got a B in Into to Sociology The book was well researched, and she spent a lot of time in the areas, with the mothers doing her interviews It works as a classroom aide, or for anyone interested in the topic, but First, I have to admit I m super biased This author was one of my professors and also my major adviser,and I had some poor experiences with both a favorite moment was when she was advising me Hmm you only got a B in Intro ...Having grown up in a relatively poor urban neighborhood, I definitely saw the difference in attitude towards motherhood as compared to the average middle class person s attitude, and the difference in poor reality versus middle class perception of that reality This book s research highlights these differences and explains the reality of motherhood among poor women very well Wonderful research and an interesting read If you ve ever wondered why poor women seem to have children in circumstances Having grown up in a relatively poor urban neighborhood, I definitely saw the difference in attitude towards motherhood as compared to the average middle class person s attitude, and the difference in poor reality versus middle class perception of that reality This book s research highlights these differences and explains the reality of motherhood among poor women very well Wonderful research and an interesting read If you ve ever wondered why poor women seem ...I really enjoyed this book, it explained the cultural reasons behind why low income women often have children before or sans marriage It really made some positive points and made me look at the issue muchdifferently Also, they studied women in Philadelphia and Camden neighborhoods, so I could r...

• English
• 15 February 2018
Kathryn Edin
• Paperback
• 298 pages
• 0520248198
• Kathryn Edin
• Promises I Can Keep