![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/babies-250x166.jpg\" "\\"babies\\"")
The Department of Statistics has released its Births Report for the period 1970 to 2010.\u00a0 An interesting section of the report relates to illegitimacy \u2013 that is, children born to unmarried mothers.<\/p>\nThe Department of Statistics has released its Births Report for the period 1970 to 2010.\u00a0 An interesting section of the report relates to illegitimacy \u2013 that is, children born to unmarried mothers.<\/p>\n
According to the report, births to unwed mothers in The Bahamas escalated during the past 40 years from 29 percent in 1970, to a high of 62 percent in 2009.\u00a0 Births to unwed mothers dropped slightly in 2010 to 59 percent.<\/p>\n
\u201cBirths to unwed mothers remained the largest annual natural increase to the Bahamian population,\u201d said the Department of Statistics in the report.<\/p>\n
The traditional home in which married parents shared the responsibility of child rearing has been eclipsed by a new Bahamas in which mothers primarily carry the burden of bringing up children.\u00a0 Some men who father children to women they are not married to make an effort.\u00a0 Many do not, however.<\/p>\n
There are several disadvantages to a society growing via this model.\u00a0 The combined income and attention of two well-intentioned parents in a home far surpass what a well-intentioned mother, burdened by being both a father and mother, can provide to a child.<\/p>\n
Beyond resources, children need examples to use to model behavior.\u00a0 When no father is present in the home a boy is robbed of an example of how to be, or not to be, a man.\u00a0 Similarly, girls are denied the example of observing masculinity up close when their fathers are missing.<\/p>\n
One of the few measures the state can take to influence the reproductive patterns of its citizens is to ensure aggressively that child maintenance laws are tough and enforced.\u00a0 When men refuse to financially help take care of their children they can be taken to court by mothers and made to pay.\u00a0 And they should be made to pay.\u00a0 People are the most important natural resource of any society.\u00a0 Every investment must be made in the next generation to ensure it is as capable as possible to meet the challenges of the times.<\/p>\n
The church has a role to play in this issue too.\u00a0 The message must again be aggressively and consistently sent to Bahamians that two-parent homes with focused and dedicated parents are more ideal than homes in which mothers struggle to do it all alone.\u00a0 And when children are born to unwed mothers it must be emphasized from our pulpits that it is morally reprehensible for a man not to take care of his children.<\/p>\n
A positive trend in the report is that the number of teenage pregnancy remains significantly under the highs of a few decades ago.\u00a0 According to the report, in 1980 there were 1,107 births recorded to teenage mothers; 763 in 1990; 580 in 2000; and 533 in 2010.<\/p>\n
Girls who have not even finished their secondary education are not well-equipped to be mothers.\u00a0 The public education initiatives in place in schools and via the media seem to have had some positive effect on this problem.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the state must continue to ensure that men who commit statutory rape and impregnate girls are prosecuted.\u00a0 The aggressive prosecution of these men should help deter others from engaging in this destructive behavior.<\/p>\n
Editorial from The Nassau Guardian The Department of Statistics has released its Births Report for the period 1970 to 2010. An interesting section of the report relates to illegitimacy \u2013 that is, children born to unmarried mothers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[334,163],"class_list":["post-18281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines","tag-children","tag-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18281\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFebruary 20, 2012<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"