Growing Number of Single Moms Really Victims of Patriarchy?

Despite readily available birth control, more single women are getting pregnant—but choosing not to marry to the biological father—than ever before, in part because the social stigma associated with unwed motherhood no longer exists and in part due to the lack of availability of economically-stable male spouses.

Two researchers claim that, while this coupled with the ranks of divorced mothers, is a mark of women's new-found independence, these single mothers are now even worse victims of the old male patriarchy. Why? According to the authors,

• College-educated men still have the greatest access to "the most influential and highest paying jobs" in large part because "women are still much more likely than men to drop out of the labor market when children come."
• The patriarchal system continues to extend to males "political power—the ability to secure laws reflecting male preferences and perspectives over female ones."
• The patriarchal system has made alimony and child support for women less common (especially to mothers who earn more than fathers), while at the same time awarding more shared custody to fathers.

The authors' conclusion is that there is no "new matriarchy" to celebrate:

The word “matriarchy” suggests power, and it is hard to see what power today’s struggling single mothers exercise. Their hard-won independence, in a world where they do not have the power to create better relationships or stronger communities, is under assault. They might be better off unmarried than married to unemployed boyfriends who still live at home with their mothers. But with children to raise, bills to pay and multiple jobs to go to, do they really have any other choice?