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A study of one hundred unmarried mothers in Los Angeles

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A study of one hundred unmarried mothers in Los Angeles

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Content A STUDY OF OIJL SUTdDREI) UIJtlAR~lIED lZCTHEi3S IN LOS ANGELES k thesis Presented to the fac::ity of the Sociolo,;y Tjepartnlent University of Southern California In partial fulfillment of the req17-irernents for the deqrce &:aster of Arts in Socio1orl;y bs Viola Alice Habecker August 1435 This thesis, written under the direction of the candidate's Faculty Committee and approved by all its members, has been presented to and ac- cepted by the Council on Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfillment of the require- ments for the degree of Secr&iny '7 - I, .& ...... L.22'i.'i'iw..::I ..... 5LA....:?rL t - Dean .................. ... Date Aug~fili ,..- 19.35 Facultv Committee CIIAPTER PAGE ........... I . HE PHOBLXX AND DBFIBITIONS 0 F. TI2Rb.S US3D 1 The problem ................................... 1 Organization of the thesis .................... 1 r~efinitions of terms used ..................... 2 Special studies relating to this subject ...... 4 ........ 11 . CfEMXIIAL STAPISTISS RYUTING TO LL.EGI'i'I.IiCY 6 ............... Illegitiniacy in other countries 6 Illegitimacy in the United States ............. 10 I Illegitimacy in cities ........................ 15 Illegitimacy among the negroes ................ 22 ........ I11 . ThE STULY OF CNE HUNDRED UNEARl<IED AIOTHERS 24 Scope and method of the study ................. 24 Composition of the group studied .............. 26 !Other ................................... 27 Katernal grandmother ..................... 36 IAatcrnal erandfather ..................... 39 Father ................................... 42 Paternal grandmother ..................... 47 Paternal grandfather ..................... 47 Child ................................... 51 Apparent causes of illegitimacy ............... 52 Life studies of selected cases ................ 55 CHAPTER PAGE IV . RESIILT S OF THIS SPEC U L LTUDY C GlviPAKbH3 ViITIi 0TmH STUDIES ..................................... 62 Home conditions .............................. 68 V . SUGGESTIONS FOEi A I. ?ODEL U7' ON 1iL!~G1TIhlllCY ........ 70 History of the movement ...................... 70 Suggestions for a model law .................. 75 ......................... VI. SUE!ii.kffi iiivD CONCLUSIONS.. 79 BIBLIOGRAPHY .........-..m..eoaoo* 85 ................. TABU.3 ...................... XXIII . Occupations of the fathers .......................... . XXIV Religion of the fathers ...................... . XXV Nationalities of the fathers ................ . XXVI Ages of the paternal grandmothers .............. . XXVII Education of paternal grandmothers ........... . XXVIII Occupations of paternal erandmothers .......... . XXIX Marital status of paternal grandmothers ..................... . XXX Ages of paternal grsndfathers ......... XXXI . Occupations of the paternal grandfathers .............. . XXXII Facts about the illegitinate child ........... . XXXIII Ages of mothers in Troustinefs study ............. . XXXIV Ages of mothers in Kammererfs study ............. XXXV . Ages of mothers in biattinglyts study .... XXXVI . Ages of the unmarried mothers in Los Angeles . ........................ XXXVII Age grouping of mothers PAGE 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 50 51 62 63 64 64 65 CHAPTER I PROBLEld AND EEFINITIONS OF TERY? USED The problem. This study of one hundred mumpried - mothers is based upon an analysis of one hundred case re- cords secured through the California Children's Home Society. The writer was given access to its files and was thus able to secure the information given in the following pages. he study includes only records of clients who were under the observation of the agency between January 1, 1932 and Jan- uary i, 1933. These cases were selected to be as representa- tive as possible of all the cases handled by the agency. The study endeavors to analyze some of the factors in the lives of the parents of illegitimate children. What were the social situations which they were forced to confront? To what influences have they been subjected? What was their age at the birth of tho child? Whet was their occupation, ed- ucation, nationality, religion? Did they have good health and nomal mentality? All these factors and a number of others are considered in thg following study. Before beginning this study the problem of illegiti- macy was discussed with various people interested in such social problems. Several heads of agencies dealing with the unmarried mother contributed many ideas and suggested various points to be included in an outline for such a study, A number of books dealing with this subject were also read. From these sources edeas for an outline were formulated. Many of the divisions were changed or omitted after further study, while others were added, until the outline which ap- pears in Chapter I1 was prepa.red. Organization of the thesis. The thesis is divided into six chapters dealing with different phases of the prob- 11 lem. lhe first chapter is an introductory one; the second deals with statis tics showing the volume of illegitimacy in Europe and America; the third chapter relates primarily to the one hundred unmarried mothers, and contains information as listed in the previous paragraph; the fourth chapter brings out the likenesses and differences of this study as comprred with similar studies; the fifth chapter contains suggestions for a model law on illegitimacy; the sixth chap- ter contains a short summary, restating the findings of the precedins chapters and showing the more important findings of the whole study. Definitions - of terms - used. To have an understanding of any subject it is necessary to hsve a clear conception of the use of certain terms peculiar to the particular topic, It is necessary in this study to have a definite idea of the meaning of the word "illegitimacy." The next few paragraphs will be devoted to a discussion of this term. Authorities differ widely in the small points in de- fining this term, but nearly all agree in the essentials. Illegitimacy denotes the condition of children born out of wedlock according to one author who gives the following de- finition: "Children born out of wedlock includes any child born to pments who had not been legally married previous to his birth."' Kammerer says, he word lillegitimacyl 12 ob- viously derived from the Latin word 1 illegi timus 1 meaning, Inot in accordance with 1~~1 and hence born out of wedlock 2 thus implying tne state of beinq of illegitimate birth." There h~ve been illegitimate children since there have been merriage laws \Vhile an illegitimate chiid i: ordinarily considered to be one born to an unmarried woman, the term applies also to the child or a widowed or divorced woman when the husband could not have been the father and to the issue of void or voidable yrringes in the absence of countervailing legislation. The term "born out of wedlock1' may hcve little more than technical significance in cornunities where custom rend- ers certain departures frorn premarital chastity moral, as between bethrothcd cauples. fllegitimacy in some f om is a 'united States Childrents Bureau, No. 66, p.21 2~.~. Kammerer, - The Unmarried biother, p.2. 3~.~. Hankins, ~llegitimacg: Social ~spects," Encyclopedia - of SocialSciarzce, 1932, p. 580. 4 universal social phenomenon, and law and custom everywhere take account of it. Marital institutions srld sex mores, how- ever, differ so widely and are so differently integrated with economic, moral, and religious practices as to ~ive it a be- wildering sociolo~ical variety. Like divorce, it is under- standable only in the light of its entire socioloyical setting in each community; it cannot therefore be viewed as an index of sex morality. 4 Special studies rel~ting to the subject. Illegiti- -- macy has been a social problem ever since civilization has been in existance. However, not until recent times has it received any attention. Several studies have been made of illegitimacy dealing in most part with special localities. Dr. llangold's n~hildren Born Out of Bedlock" is a valuable contribution to the subjecte5 Kammerer made a study of the unmarried mother in ~oston;~ Trouatine studied these con- ditions in ~incinnati;~ Mattingly made a study of illegiti- macy in levela and;^ and Ruth Reed made a sixilsr study in 4 Hankins, 3.ci.t. - p. 583. 5~.~e Mangold, Children Born Out of ?!;sdlock. - -- - 6~.~+. Kammerer, - The Unmarried lothor. I7 I H. Troustine, Illegitirnacg in Cincinnati. - *M.H. lvfattingly, The Unmarried IGother and Her Child. - --- 5 New yorkbg A13 of these studies have contributed a great deal to this research. The writer of this thesis, however, has not attempted to go into the subject as the above named authors have done. This stutiy is merely an investigation of one hundred unmarried mothers in Los Angeles. 9 R. Reed, Negro Illegitimacy in New York City. --- CHAPTER I1 GENERAL STATISTICS KZLATING T 0 ILLEGITIMACY A knoir~ledge of the volume of illegitimacy is essen- tial for a study of this thesis. The United States has been rather backm~rd in deterxining tne number of illegitimate children born in its bounds. A forvmrd step is necessary to bring progress in this line. The European statistics all? more carefully kept. 'he next few pages in this chapter will be devoted first, to foreign statistics relatin; to this suS- ject, second, to statistics in the U?ited. States concerning illegitimacy. Illegitimacy - in other Countries. A compilation of official data by the Children's Bureau of the United States Oepartment of Labor showed that the number of illegitimate births in Europe in 1914, o~~itting those in Russian Finland, Poland, and the Balk~n Ststes (except Rou~ania), exceeded 1 900,000. The percenta es of il'Legitimacy for Norw~y, Sweden, and Italy in 1926 were respecti~ely 6.54, 16.57, 4.96; those of Belguim, Denmrrk, Germsny, Chile, and Urugu~y in 1927 were 4.6, 11, 12, 35.07, 28.21; those of En~land and Wales, of I F .H. Hankins, "~llegitimacg: Social ~spect s," Encyclopedia - of Sociel Science, p. 580. 7 2 Scotland and of Ireland in 1928 4.5, 7.4, 4.6. The hiixhest rates of ille~?itimacy officially reported are those of Jamaica and Panama (1925), which exceeded 700 per 1000 births between 1921 and 1925; extraordinarily rates are found also in Cuba and Central and South America; the rates are still higher in 3 Denmark and Australia. The Japanese rates have fallen sharp- ly from 116, for the ~e:~rs between 1891 and 1895, to 78 per 1000 births for the years oetvjeen 1921 end 1925, to 67 in 4 1928 and 63 in 1931. 5 In interpreting these figures it should be noted that in view of the general decline in the total birth rate a less- er decline in the number of illegitimate births would give an increasing ratio. ~JoI-eover, a decline in the birth rate in- creases the prcportion of first born, among whom the incidence of illegitimacy is mich hieer than among the later born. The illegitimacy rate may be an increasing proportion of all births even thouF& it is declining if calculated per 1000 unmrried women. It may be affccted by chanp;es in the relative n;es of unmarried women. rormerly the recorc!~ were not complete, but ~~ecently the statistics have been mor-e accurate which makes an apnarent increase in number. A table on the following 2 Hankins, - op.cit p. 580. 5~he - Japan - Year -' Book p .58. 8 , page will give us some further information on the amount of ill egitimacy in Europe and other co~lt-~' *L~s. 697 r i,yures are given for the years 1923 and 1931. 'united States Children's bureau, 140. 166,p .24. 7~. i:Zlitaker, Almanack, p. 15. TABU3 I 1LiBGITIIrd.TE: BIRTtS IN O'LXER COUNTRIES Illegitimate llve Illegitimate live births in the births in the year year 1923 1931 Rate per Rate per Nuxber 1,000 totrl Number 1.000 total live births live births Austria 29,660 Eelguim 8,714 Chile (2) Czechoslavakia 37,638 Denmark 8,155 England, 'JVales (2) Finland 7,197 Prance (3) Ge rrnany 133,670 Great Britian and Ireland 41,867 Hungary 18,151 Italy 49,272 Netherland 3,447 Nomay 4,301 Roumania 62,301 Spain 38,225 Sweden 15,851 Sv~i t zerland 2,760 'NO figures for 1930 or 1931. '~i~urev for 1930 only. 3~atest fi-1-,es were for 1922. Illegitimacy -- in the United States. Until recent years very little attention has been paid to the number of illegiti- mate births in the United States. Very few states have kept accurate records of births. On the who1.e the American peo- ple have not demanded facts about xany aspects of their soc- ial life. Recently, however, the Federal Children's Bureau and other organizations have begun to empha~~ize the need of such facts. The annual collection of birth statistics was authorized by the permanent census act and ap roved Lrrch 6, 1902, but the birth registration area was not established until 1915.~ The first annual report was for that year and included data for only ten states and the District of Colum- bia, At the present time all of the states belong to the iilrth registration arcse9 However, two states, ilnssachusetts and California, make no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate births. The state of Massachusetts was the first Amrican cornrnonaealth to present statistics on illegitimacy; its first figures on the subject being reported. for the year 1854. 10 In the report of 1858 an account was given of ten year old '"~irths, Stillbirths, and Infant Lortality Statis- tics," United States Departaent of' Co~rierce, 1931, p.3. g't~rovisional Figures for Live Births ,Infant Ilortality, and Stillbirths in Continental United States," United States Department of Commerce, 1933, pel. "G.B. IrIangold, Children --- Born Out of Wedlock, p. 15. 11 girl giving birth to a baby. In the same year 293 illegiti- mate births were recorded. For forty years I$assacl~usetts kept a record of such births, but owing to an increased amount of information, there was a demand. to eliminate the least importent statistics. As a result the fisures re- lating to illegitimate births were omitted, the last report being made in 1895. 11 Connecticut was one of the earliest states to re- quire the registration of births. At first there was no difference between registration of' legitimate and illeaiti- mate statistics on illegitimacy, and all following reports 12 hzlve included this item. lJichi,3nn was the third state to make a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate births. This was in 1868. At the present time every state belon~~s to the birth regis- tration area. The birth registration law recommended for the states by the Bureau of Census suggests that the birth statistics shall stete "whether legitimate or ill ei,.itimate," "full nane of father," and maiden name of the mother. tr 13 The number of illegitimate births in the registra- l1~angold, - ope *) cit P* 15 tion area of the United States by states anr? the race of the mother i Y shown in the following table, 14 The figures are for the years 1930 and 1932 and do not include infor- mation for California, Massachusetts, and Texas, as these states do not require a statement regarding the legitimacy of the child, 141'~irths, Stillbirths, and Infant Mortality Statis- tics ,It United States Department of Corn-erce, 1931, p .14. TABLE I1 1Li;EGITII~~ATE BIRTHS IN THE UNITED STATES Illegitimate births AREA Rate per F~ate per C OLOR Number 1,000 total Number I. ,000 total -. 1930 live births 1932 live births - -- - Registration area in the U.S. 66,991 White 32,344 Colored 34,647 Alabama 4,738 White 577 I Colored 4,161 I i Arizona 208 Arkansas 1,404 White 380 Colored 1,024 Colorado 442 Connecticut 277 Delaware 245 District of Columbia 689 \mite 127 Colored 562 Florida 1,482 White 277 Colored 1,205 Georgia 4,050 mite 498 Colored 3,552 Idaho 117 Illinois 2,474 Indiana 972 Iowa 744 Kansas 525 Kentucky 1,863 White 727 Colored 336 Louisiana 2,967 White 431 Colored 2,536 Maine 457 Maryland 1,828 mite 470 Colored 1,358 Michigan 2,161 TABU I1 (continued) AREA Illegitimate births Number Rate Per Number Rate Per C OLOR 1930 1,000 total 1932 1000 total live births live births Elinnesota 993 20.9 1,199 25.9 l;!ississippi 3,365 69.9 3,834 82.9 . White 238 1% .2 286 13.1 Colored 3,082 123.9 3,548 144.9 Ibli ssouri 1,817 29.3 1,922 32.1 ILon t ana 187 18 .8 199 21.9 Nebraska 486 18.0 483 19.2 Nevada 19 14.3 11 8.7 New Hanipshire . 143 17.1 149 19.1 New Jersey 1,203 1'7 .6 1,276 20.8 New biexico 414 34 .2 418 33 -7 Nevr York 2,424 15 .8 3,694 18.6 North Carolina 5,409 70.5 6,288 80.7 White 1,322 24 .7 1,457 27 .5 Colored 4,087 175.3 4,813 198 .9 North Dakota 294 19 .9 320 22 ,8 Ohio 5,525 21.4 2,534 24.9 Oklahoma 689 16 .2 882 21.5 Oregon 199 14 .8 234 18.2 Pennsylvania 5,513 29.1 5,637 33.4 mode Island 245 20.1 270 24.2 South Carolina 4,041 99 .9 4,715 113 .6 White 403 20.1 500 24.9 Colored 3,638 178.3 4,215 196.5 South Dakota (no record) 228 17.2 Tennessee 1,937 36 .8 2,131 40.6 R%i te 851 19 01 910 20.5 Colored 1,086 134 00 1,221 151.0 Utah 121 9 .3 11% 9.9 Vermont 205 29.6 146 24.2 Virginia 3,559 65.1 3,848 70.5 mite 969 24.9 99 1 25 .7 Colored 2,590 164.6 2,857 1TE7.8 Kashington 409 17.8 457 21.4 West Virginia 1,580 38.0 1,736 44.7 Wisconsin 1,124 19 .8 1,229 23.1 Wyoming 47 10.5 70 16.5 15 Bi1;ures relating to the United States show that the percentage of illegitimacy is gradually increasing. The actual number is alwo larger than formerly so that the prob- lem is one hat will increasingly challenge the resources of social workers. Illegitimacy in cities, In lsrge centers of popu- - lation social problems zre intensified, Lany unmarried moth5rs gravitate to the cities because of the institutions which -;ive maternity care and agencies vihich provide for the children who must depend upon the public for support, Here, also, the mother can often conceal her identity. Un- doubtedly, too, the city, by reason of economic and social conditions in crov~ded areas, also pro6uces an undue propor- tion of births out of wedlock. 15 Formerly the rates of illegitimacy for cities were kept separately. A table is yiven on the followin:; page shovring the rates for the years from 1910 to 1917. 16 15 United States Children's Bureau, no. 166, p. 25. 16 Ibid 9 Pa 25. ILLXGITINATE BIRTHS IN VARIOUS C I'I'IES OF THE UTJITZD STATES - - - Per cent oj' live oirths Live births 1915 reported as illegitimate Heported as Annual- Illegitimate Aver~ge 1916 1917 Total - 1910- Number Per cent 1915 Baltimore 1.1,460 lPmi t e 2,174 359 3.8 3.8 2 .E 2.1 Colored 19,725 533 24.5 23.3 22.7 21.6 Boston 12,683 8 00 4.6 4.1 (1 (2 Buff a10 7,804 263 2.1 2.0 2 .2 2 .5 Cincinnati 16,623 2 99 3.8 3.7 (1 (2) Cleveland 3,703 386 2.3 2.3 (1) (2 Denver 21,088 105 2.8 3.0 2.9 3.6 Detro? t 3,157 547 2.6 2.7 (1) (2) Grand Einpids 5,418 117 3.7 2.7 fl> (2) Kansas City 11,278 329 6.1 6.1 7.9 6.1 1:Iilwauke e 8,529 292 2.6 2.6 2.8 2.C Ifiinneapolis 10,955 365 4.3 4.4 4.0 4.0 Newark 141,256 152 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.1 Mew York 40,849 1,603 1.2 1.4 1.1 1.0 Philadelphia 16,139 1,122 2.7 2.5 2.5 2 .3 Pittsburg 5,835 490 3.0 3.6 (1) (2) Providence 14,143 123 2.1 2.2 1.7 2 -1 St. Louis 5,291 529 3.7 4.3 3.9 3 06 St. Paul 4,495 272 5.1 4.5 4 .5 5.0 Toledo 118 2.6 2.5 1.7 1.8 Vaslling ton 4,872 (1) (2) White 2,195 110 2.3 1.6 2 -3 2 .3 CoJored 427 19.5 18.2 18.8 18.C 'Xo rocord for 1916 2~o record for 1917 The difference in the extent of the problem in the cities and in less congested areas is brought out by a com- parison of the percentage of illegitimate births in states I as a whole. and in their large centers of population. This is due partly to the position of the city as a place of ref- uge and as a center for hospital and other types of care. The conditions of life in a city are also a considerable fac- tor. In 1915 rates for the stcites and cities for vihich com- parable statistics were available were as follows .I7 Fig- ures for a later date could not be found. 17 United States Children's Bureau, No. 66, p. 24. TABLE IV STATES AND CITIES -- --- States and cities Percentages Liaryland White Colored Baltimore mite Colored k4assachusetts Boston f&inne s o t a. Linneapolis St. Paul Idissouri Kansas City St. Louis Pennsylvania Philadelphia Rhode Island Providence 20 One can see by looking over the fi~res on the pre- ceding page that the rate of illegitimacy in the cities is nigher in every case mentioned th~n in the strte as a whole. In one instance, Kansas City and b:issouri, there are four per thousand more il egitimate births in the city than in the state as a whole, or the rate is nearly three times as hi&. This difference is largely due to the existance in Kansas City of several maternity homes that draw women from the surrounding country. There are no recent statistics available in respect to cities to compare with the foregoing table, but general sta.tistics are given recording the total number of illegiti- mate births in the cities all over the United states.18 These statistics also five special information regarding foreign and colored mothers. 18"Births, Stillbirths, and Infant Lortality Statis- tics," United Stztes Depcirtment of' Com~~erce, 1931, p.22. All All whit9 Colored AFaA Births Native Foreign Mothers others - - Registration area in con- nental U.S. 38.7 20.7 21.5 7.6 Cities of 10,000 or more 36.5 23.9 26.6 7.8 Cities of 2,500 to 10,000 30.9 17.5 17.8 6.3 Rural 42.2 18.1 17.7 7.1 159.5 Illegitimacy among the negroes. The previous table - shows a uniformly high rate for colored people. Roughly speakin? rates are four times as high for colored nothers ', as for white. lhis is true for cities and rural districts alike, There is a wide difference between the figures for the white and colored mothers. No sifting down or analysis of' statistics can bridge the gap. By investigation it has been found that few colored women migrate to or from cities for confinement. The rates listed, therefore, reflect quite accurately illegitimacy in city or state, 19 So large a per- centa~e seems unbelievable, but it must not be forgotten that less than seventy years ago marriage among the negroes was in the very crudest state, inihile the low morality prevail- ing among the negroes cannot be overlooked, it can, in part at least, be explained and a frank historical view of the evolution of the negro will not result in too violent a de- ninciation of his morals. In fact, the white race has assist- ed in schooling the negro in the very practices which lexd to illegitimacy, 20 Slightly over two decades a.-o it was estimated that one fourth of the negro births in the United States were 1 See tables IV and V 2 G.B, Mangold, Children Born Out of iq!edlock, p.24. 7-- 21 illegitimate. The illegitimate births for negroes in the four states of Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia show a slight increase for the period from 1917 to 1928, while other states such as Ohio and other northern states show a decrease. 22 The f olloviing quotation from Frank Frazier sums up in a few words his idea on the subject. If the estimate of over two decades ago that placed the negro illegitimate rate at tvienty-five per cent was apnroximately accurate, we feel that with our present statistical data, we arae on much firmer ground in risk- ing the opinion that at present a smaller proportion, probably gbfteen per cent of the negro births are ille- gi timate. One can see th.t the negro rates are exceptionally high, but When one considers the social background of this group, the reasons can easily be deterriiined. However, in this study which follovis there is no instance of a colored mother. 21 E'. Frazier, "Analysis of Statistics on Negro Ille- gitimacy in the United states," Social Forces, p. 249. 23 Ibld e251. -r P THE STUDY OF ONE HUNDRED UNMARRIED MOTRERS This chapter contains the main body of the thesis, It deals with this special study of one hundred unmrried mothers, first telling of the various methods followed in collecting the material; second, the composition of the group; third, some of the life histories of the mothers are aven. I. SCOPE AND h;ETHOD OF THE STUDY his study of unmarried mothers was made through the courtesy of the California Children's Home Society. The cases selected were as representative as possible of all of the cases with which this agency comes in contact. The limitations of this study, however, must be care- fully kept in mind, and the conclusions drawn from this re- search can only be as broad as the group studied, We have no way of knowing just what proportion of the girls who es- cape unmarried motherhood are faced with the same factors and environment as the group studied. We do not lcnow just how many are successful in privately adjusting their own affpirs or just how many did not resort to the city materni- ty clinics, hospitals, or social agencies. This study endeavors to analyze some of' the factors in the lives of the parents of the illegitimate children, 25 such as their age at the birth of the child, their occupa- tion, nationality, education, religion, health, and mental- ity. It is more difficult to obtain information regard- ing the father of the child than facts concerning the moth- er. In the following discussion the information about the mother =ill therefore be more varied in character and usual- ly covers more ground than the facts known regarding the fathers. The limitation to be considered most in this research is the fact that the agency through which this study was made was primarily an adoptive agency. We can see that only the mothers who were considering placing their babies for adop- tion would come to this agency. It seems that the higher social position a woman has, the more she desires the ap- proval of society, consequently, she is more eager to cover any deviation from the social order. Women in the lower strata of human life do not care so much abol~t what society says of their actions and are therefore not so eager to con- ceal their departure from the moral code. Such a woman, then, would keep her baby with her, w2lile one of the higher ranks of society, would want to dispose of the baby to keep from disgracing herself and her family. Consequently, the mothers leaving their children with this agency which favors adoption would tend to belong to a higher social and c~ltu??al 26 world than the mothers who patronize agencies which advise keeping the children. The statistics and case records in this chapter seem to bear out this assertion. Although in some insttulces the workers in the Chil- dren's Home Society find thzt it is better for the child to stay with its mother, they also believe that if the mother does not desire the child, then the child will be better off if he is adopted into some home where he is wanted. It has been found by other studies, that, if the child can stay with the mother over a period of a few weeks, the r~otkler will not be as likely to give up the baby because of the attach- ment that has grown up between them. With these introductory remarks attention will now be given to the facts relating to the one hundred unmarried mothers studied. 11. COh!POSITION OF THE GRaP STUDIED mithin the group of one hundred cases studied, ex- treme differences appear. The mother! s ages, for instance range from thirteen to forty years; their occupations from domestic servants to religious workers. It is desirable in studying a person to study the environment in which he lives. To make this study more complete, as much material as ponsi- ble was gathered concerning the maternal and paternal parents of the illegitimate child. After reading several case histories, it was apparent that the information could be formulated into a schedule or outline. This outline includes a great deal of information necessary for the study of the married mother, some sec- tions of which are less useful because of some omission or wealmess in the case record. The following outline was followed in regard to the mothers, fathers, maternal and paternal grandparents. 1, Age 2. Education 3. Mentality 4. Health 5. Occupation 6. Religion 7. Nationality For the grandparents the home conditions and mrital status were also considered. Information on som of the other points in the outline was not very complete however. The following outline was used in the study of the Premature IJo rmal birth Natural birth Instrumental birth Still birth Breast fed Adoption Readjusted in the family Free home blothers. One of the most significant features under- lying illegitimacy is the age of the mothers. Has physical maturity been reached? Are the mothers old enough to bear 28 the responsibility for their disgrace? The ages of the moth- ers at the birth of the child reveal the extre~e youthfulness of many. The following table will give an idea of this fact. AGES OF THE MOTHERS Ages percentage Under 16 5 16-21 41 21-25 32 25-over 22 One can see that the problem in the main coneerr.: the young woman. Forty-six per cent, or nearly one-half of the mothers were under twenty-one years of age. As girls grow older they marry, thereby leaving few- er indivi6uals to satisfy their sex hunger in illicit ways, but the unmarried women are restless and for many years a large number stoop to imorality. Gradually habits become fixed and illicit sex life declines. The gener~l facts as to age seem to indicate that the rest- less sex impulse reaches a physical climax in the late 'teensr and early twenties, and thct after this period of life it is either subjected to gradual control by will power and righteous desire, or its force 5s lost to public view through the avenue of marria~e. It is very interesting to compare the education of this group with the education of the general p~~iulace. It was found that their education w~s very similar to that of 1 G.B. Mangold, Children Born Out of Wedlock, p. 63. --- the nation as a whole. The following table will give an idea of the educational progress of the group. TABU VII EDUCATIOf? OF THE MOTHERS Education Percentage 5 to 10 years of school 39 2 years of high school to 2 years df college 48 2 to 5 years of CL : lege 13 One of the most interesting of these cases is that of the girl who obtained her Master's Degree. While at the university, she met a youns man, half l'lexican and half Fili- pino. For a time after receiving her degree in foreign lan- guage, she yave lectures wer the radio on the study of the Spanish lenguage and tau: ht in high school. In the mean- time, the friendship with her J'ilipino friend continued to progress until they had sexual intercourse and a child was born. ~fter the birth of the child, the mother came to the agency throupa which this study was made, and stayed there for several months, as there was great difficulty in plat- ing the child. In this study it was indicated that only eight per of the mothers had low average mentality. If tests had been given, it is possible that the percentage would have been considerably larger, for it is impossible to judge mentality by conversation and observation. It is probable thzt had there been mental deficiencies they would have been recorded. However, according to reasons given further in this report and judfring by the resullts of this study as compared with similar reports, the unmarried mothers here recorded were superior in several ways to unmarried rothers in general, a large proportion of whom are either feebleminded or men- 2 tally on the borderline. Goddard, Davenport, and other authorities have shown that to a considerable degree this submoralitg is hereditary. The reasons are not hard. to find. In every comiunity there are a number of woLcer1 whose physio- logical age has far outstripped their rnemtal age. Prom eight- een to twenty-five they are in their physical prime and are exceedingly at,tractiae to the opposite sex. Mentally, how- ever, these women are only children. Their sex impulses are governed by the age of physi- cal maturity. Their powers of inhibition and their moral comprehension depend on such control as can be exercised by a mind of eight to ten; by a child mind incapable of realizing the necessity of our accepted moral and social stantarda. Weak mind and weak will clothed in mature and attractive bodies, therefore succumb to the tempter or deceiver and before long the young woman may herself ensnare her male acquaintances. Sex impulse, when the 2 G.B.Tt.angold, Children --- Born Out of \'iedlock, p. 132. . control thereof has once been lost in a person(mn or woman) of weak will, is ahlost unconquerable. It leads the young girl into the juvenile court and sends her to the reformatory. It drives the older girl into prosti- tution or imposes on her the burden of unlawful mother- hood. It also makes seduction and betrayal easier, be- cause the woman cannot sunnon the mental pol::er to pro- tect herself. It is not the inbecile woman, but the moron who is to be feared. The former will likely be sent to an institution, the latter not only remains at large, but is probably able to naintain herself as long as times are prosperous and adversity does not test her mind and moralsf When she breaks down her fate is wrong- ly interpreted. The health and physical condition of the mother is vital from the standpoint of her ability to care for her children and also from Yne standpoint of any hereditary dis- ease, but, unfortunately, there is no informtion on this point for five per cent of the mothers. The health record for the remainder vfrs based on the observation and opinion of welfare workers, rather than on a careful physical ex- r1 amination. Lhe information seems to indicate the need for general attention to the health of unmarried mothers. In a study made by the United States Childrents Bureau it was found that one fourth of the mothers of children born out of wedlock were known to be physically defective, diseas- ed, or in poor physical condition. Conditions such as these usually sipify impared earning capacity, lack of a feeling of responsibility for the welfare of the child, and general unfitness to give the child s proper home or provide for adequate support. 3~.,~. Mangold, Children -- Born Out of Pledloclc, p. 41. 'united States Childrents Bureau, no.57, p. 45. 32 The table which follows will give an idea of the health of the mothers in this study. TASrn VIII -HEALTH OF THE MOI'KERS Health Percentage Good Health 88 Poor health 6 De ad 1 No record 5 The occupation of the mothers is most perplexing. It seems to have some relation to illegitimacy, but there is difficulty in determining the influence of the occupational record upon the life of the mothers. In all stud.ies on ille- gitimacy it is interesting to note the number of unskilled workers. Of this group a great number are always in domestic service. Delinquent women in general are found predominantly in domestic scrvice. It is significant not merely be- cause it tends to show that domestic service offers the greatest pitfalls, but Secause it is an indication that women who comprise the unmarried mother group are frequently of low mental caliber, unfitted f-r work other than the mechanical routine of the factory, or housework, and are therefore liable to lack self-control, 5 This study shows, as do other studies of similar na- tur?, that the number of unskilled workers who became mothers 5~. Troustine, Illegitimacz in Cincinnati, p.195. - of illegitimate children is large, and of' this group a con- siderable proportion was of the domestic worker class. The occupations have not been listed separately but in groups. OCCUPATIONS QF THE MUI'HERS Occupation Per centage Professional 6 Clerical 18 skilled 4 Unskilled 42 Students 11 Unemployed 9 No record 10 The significance of this occupational grouping will appear more clearly in a later chapter irhen comparisons with other studies are made. Just nhat relation religion has to illegitimcy Is not clear. The table below shows thnt the majority of the mothers in this study were Protestants. RELIGION OF THE MCRlHERS Religion Percentage Protestants 72 Catholics 19 Jewish 2 Budhi st s 5 No record 2 It is very difficult to determine the influence of religion on illegitimac ye Some authorities doubt whether religion, in itself, has any influence. Catholic Austria and Protestant Sweden have the hipbest rates of Europe, vhile Catholic Ireland, Protestant Holland and Lnzland and :reek Orthodox Russia (before 1917) have rates among tlm lowest. 6 German data show considerable le ss illegitimacy among Jews than among other reli3ious groups, but with some tendency to increase durin the last generation. The percentage of Catholics in this study does not prove a low rate of illegiti- macy among members of the Catholic bhurch, however, since certain that nany Catholic girls, instead coming the California Children's Home Society, have been directed to various Catholic agencies. The following quotation throws considerable light on the subject of religion. European statistics show thut Roman Catholic Ireland has the lowest rate of illegitimacy in Lurope, It further appears that while the rates in Protestant liorth Ireland are loe, those in Catholic South lreland are considerably lower, and in addition, frotestant Preland is more well- to-do than Catholic Ireland and should have better oppor- tunities and less temptations for young women. The,,few American figures have no statistical value. . . . Each city, however, reports a rather small number of ~ewasses. It is likely that rates would be much hiyher if religious influences were absent, but the factor can not be e,+ghed. - The low rate among the Jewish people is significsnt. 6~.~e Hankins, "Illegitimacy: Social ~spects," - En- cyclopedia - of Social Science, p.580. 7~.~. Mengold, Children --- Born Out of Wedlock, p. 72. The nationality of the mother is an interesting item. However, it is difficult to determine the significance of this e I item. This study shows qvlite a diversity of nationality, but the majority are Americans. Some of the American mothers, I i however, are American Russians, Germans, French and others E E had pa?-ents who were still in the home countries. There is I I no accurate record as to the number of mothers with foreign I born pnrents. I TABLE XI I NATIONALITIES 01, TEE MOTHERS Nationalities Percentages Americans 86 Canadians 4 Ivle,~. icans 2 Japanese 2 English 2 Russian 1 lench 1 Italian 1 No record 1 \Ye would naturally expect a high percentage of Ameri- can mothers because the general population is mostly Amrican, only ten per cent being foreign. The above figures show that 8 the number for the Americans is practically the sam percen- tage as the number of Americans for the community as a whole. Our American statistics convey a little information i in regard to the comparative illegitimacy zmong the native r and foreign born mhites. According to a report of large cities in the United States, r~de by the United States Chil- dren Bureau, it was found that the rate per thousand births is three times as high among native mothers as among foreign 8 born. Since the foreign born make up only aboilt ten per cent of the population as a whole, and thirteen per cent of the mothers in this stuey are foreign born, the per cent of il7egi- macy among the foreign born is higher than among native born Americans. Maternal grandmothers. Conditions in the unmrried mothert s home throw some light on the cause for her delinquen- cy. E'acts will be given i'irst, for the mternal pandrnother of the illegitimate chilc'. The following table shows the ages of the grandmothers. AGES OF TEIE UTERNAL GRANDMOTHERS Age s Percentages Between 30 ahd 39 10 Between 40 and 49 36 Between 50 and 59 23 Between 60 and 69 7 Between 70 and 80 1 Dead 21 Unknown 12 The age of the grandparents is not as important a factor as some others which are to be considered, yet in 8 United States Children's Bureau, no. 66, p. 25. certain instances this will affect the child. This is es- pecially true if the parent is elderly and does not under- stand youth, However, the fact that forty-six per cent were under fifty years of age shows that the mothers were suf- ficiently young to understand their daughters, There is a record of the education of only seventy- two per cent of the grand.mothers, sorne of ahich is not entire- ly accurate. According to the facts obtained, the education- al attainment of the grandmothers is as follows: TABLE XI11 EDUCATION OF MATERNAL GRANDZOTHERS Education Percentage Little or none 6 Grade school 32 High school 27 College . 7 No record 28 It will be noticed that the education of the grand- m'thers is inferior to that of their daughters. The occupations of the grandmothers was also quite d-ifferent than th5t of the daughters. The majority of the grandmothers were not working; some, however, as can be seen by the following scale, were yainfully employed. Twenty per cent of the mothers wsre employed. The fact that this many viere working away from home may have been a factor in the girl s delinquency. TABLE XIV OCCUPATIONS OF THE tUATliRIIAL GRANDldCrrHE3I S Occupation Percentage Professional 3 Clerical 2 Skilled 5 Unskilled 10 Unemployed 80 The marital status of the family is an interesting item. Conditions in the mother's parental home prove to be inportant enough for consideration. The home is the pri- mary institution for the socialization of the child. If, because of death, separation, or divorce, the home is not normal, it will affect the coneuct of the child. The in- stances of death, divorce, separation, and remarriage in this group of unmp.rried were quite frequent. The following table will give clearer picture of the situation. MARITAL STATUS OF MATERNAL GKANDB OTHERS Status Percentage Divorced 7 Remarried 11 Separated 6 Dead 21 39 When the figures just listed were compared with tilose concerning the maternal grandfather, they were more easily understood. Of the fathers twenty-nine per cent were dead, The remarriage of the parents was also a very important fac- tor. If a mother is a widow the problem of support plays an important part, In another chapter this problem will be discussed more at length as our attention will not be turned to the study of the maternal grandfather. lilaternal grandfather. The same outline will be follow- ed in the study of the grandfather as for the grandmothers. The order will also be the same. The ages of all of the grand- fathers were not reported, but those tht wore obtained will be given below. TABLE XVI AGE 03' UTEFrNAL GRAN DFATFIERS Ages Between 30 and Between 40 and Between 50 and Between 60 and Between 70 and Ages unknown Percentages 39 1 49 29 59 23 69 21 80 7 19 As can be seen by the above table, the grandfathers were considerably older than the maternal grandmothers. This is natural and is true in the country as a whole. While ten 40 per cent of the grandmothers were between thirty and thirty- nine years of :sge, only one per cent of the grandfathers were between that age. With the grandmothers only eight per cent were over sixty years of age, while twenty-eight per cent of the grandfathers were over thnt aqe. The followinlr: table showing the occupationr.1 groups is interestin-; when corop~red with other simllar studies. Here, although the percenta,l;e of unskilled viorlters is the l8rgest sin ?le item, co!rpraising twenty-nine per cent, the percentage of those engaged in professional and cle~~ical I work cornbined almost equals it at twenty-one per ccnt, ~vrlile I if vbre added in the skilled workers, the percentage of grand- fathers engaged in hi-:her types of work would conpletely out - balance the unski%led workers at t2irty-six to twenty-nine per cent. Other studies, on the contrary, show the unskill- ed workers in the preponderance. TABU XVII OCCUPATIONS OF THE UATERNAL GFWJDFATHERS Occupations Percentage Professional 10 Clerical 11 Skilled 15 Unskilled 29 No record 35 41 The education of the grandfatkers v!as above that of the grandmot'rlers. \?nile seven per cent of the grandmothers had a college education, seventeen per cent of the grand- fathers had a college ed11-c~tion. As far as grade school is concerned, the~e was also a hi@er percentage who had only grade school education among the grandfathers than aniong the grandmothers. There ir a record of the education of only eighty per cent of the grandfathers, as can be sien by the f'olloviing table. TABU XVIII EDUCATION OF ?!HE 14iTIi=KNAL GRANDFATEERS -- Education Percentage Little or none 5 Grade school 42 High school 18 College 15 Wo record 20 Naturally there is an overlapping of the marital status of the maternal grandnotber and grandfather, but be- cause of' deaths, separation, divorces, and remarriages, it was thought wise to discuss them under sepa~ate headings. It is revealing to note the large number of broken homes. Over half of the instances listed under the maternal grand- father showed that the unmarried mother lived in a home which was not normal. MARITAL STATUS UTEHN AL GRANTFATHERS Status Percentage Divorced 9 Hemarried 5 Separated 11 Dead 29 In considering the home conditions we find that in six per cent of' the homes, as listed under the grandfather, the environment for the mothers was bad; while in the con- ditions considered under the grandmother, only three per cent were considered bad or immoral. Fathers. The fathers of illegii~imate children have received but lxttle attention in the past. In many cases facts about the fathers were not even recodeti. In this study the fathers of the ille,?;itimte children were consider- ably older than the mothers. Several of the men were over forty years of age. While only fifteen per cent of the men were under tlsent;y-one y,-ars of age, forty-six per cent of i 1 the women were under this age. ihe converse holds true for those over twenty-five years of age. For the women only twenty-two per cent were over twenty-five years of age, but for the men forty-nine per cent vve1.e over twenty-five. An instance is cited in which a forty-two year old man was the father of a child to which a thirteen year old mother ,gave birth. In this case, the man took advantage of the child- mother, and then left the country. TABU3 XX Am OF THE PATIERS Ages Percentage Under 16 0 16-21 15 21-25 36 25-over 49 Contrary to many other studies, the educational status of the fathers was similar to that of the mothers, Generally speaking the father's education and mentality was above that of the mothers. It is impossible to account for the education of thirteen per cent of the fathers, there- fore an exact comparison cannot be made, EDUCATION OEn TRE FATHEES Education Percentage 5 to 10 years of school 37 2 years high school to 2 years college 40 2 to 5 years of college 10 44 The workers were able to see only a small per cent of the fathers, therefore much of the data regarding them was obtained from the mothers. No tests were given to the fathers and for that reason, the following table, regarding their mentality has little value. However, for those for whom we have records, the mentality is somewhat above that of the mothers. TABLE XXII JtE3TTALIT'I OF THE 11 ATITERS Hentality Percentage Good mentality 62 Average mentality 23 No record 15 The records regarding the health of the fathers were so incomplete that it is impossible to make any state- ment regarding their condition, except that their health was proSably normal, or the mothers would have mentioned it. The occupations of the fathers differs somewhat from that of the mothers. The per cent of fathers doing professional work was sliqhtly hisher than that of' the women. For eight per cent of the fathers there was no re- cord. The following schedule will irive an idea of the occu- pations. One will again notice the larl:e per cent who were unskilled laborers, TABLS XXIIL OCCUPATIONS OF THE FATHERS Occupations Percentage Professional 12 Clerical 15 Skilled 16 Unskilled 40 Students 9 No record 8 Some of the men were preparing -themselves far rmo- fessional careers. 11,egitimacg is often the result of a vicious code of morals, according to which a certain group of men feel bound to protect the women of their orm social class, but consider those of lower classes as objects of 9 prey. As a consequence many girls of the latter group are victims of the code. This may account for the fact that more fathers than mothers are drawn from the professional Very little information was given regarding the re- ligious faith of the fathers. For fifty per cent there was no record. The following table, though very incomplete, may furnish some information. As was said in reference to the mothers it is very difficult to d-etermine just \>:hat relation religion has to illegitimacy. It is interesting to note a- gain the small per cent of Jewish fathers. 'G.B. hlangold, Children --- Born Out of Wedlock, p. 77. TABLE XXIV HELI GI ON OF THE FATHERS Religion Percentage Protestants 42 Catholics 7 Jevri sh 1 No record 50 The agency had a record of nationality for only twenty-four per cent of' the fathers. Their nationalities seemed to cover as wid.0 a ranze of differences as did the mothers. a high proportion of those for whom there were records were not American. Thirty-seven of those for whom there were records were foreign. This is considerably high- er than for the mothers, for only fourteen per cent of them were not American. TABU3 XXV NATIONALIT~S Ok' THE F N'HERS Nationalities Percentages Americans 15 American Indians 1 Irish 1 Greek 1 Spanish 1 ~exican 1 bnglish 1 Russian 1 Filipino 1 Jewish 1 No record 76 Paternal grandmother. As tho information concerning the father was scant, one can see that the information re- garding his parents was even less. In some instances the mother scarcely knew the father, therefore she knew little about his parents. ! There was information regarding the age of only thirty-two per cent of' the paternal grandmothers. AGES OF PA'I"EHNAL G3kNDi .OTHEB Ages Percentage Between 30 find 39 1 Between 40 and 49 8 Between 50 and 59 15 Between 60 and 69 8 30 record 68 For seventy Ijer cent of the grandmothers there was no educational record. The f ollov:ing table, therefotae, will give little information regarding this topic. EDUCAT I OX OF PATERNAL GRANDl/I OTHERS Education Percentage Little or no school 6 Grade school 10 High school 8 College 6 No record 70 48 There is even less information about the occupational history of the paternal grandmothers as such a record was j given for only five per cent. Part of the remaining nincty- five per cent were working in their own homes only; some were dead; solre were doubtless working, but there was no record of their doin$< so. It is impossible to compare the occupa- tional record of the paternal grandmother with that of the maternal grandmother because of the lack of information. OCCUPATIONS OF THE PATER IN AL GRAN DldOTIIE*RS occupation percentage Clerical 1 Unskilled 4 No record 95 Information regarding the marital status of the pa- te~mal grandmothers was also laclting, except for a very few. TABLE XXIX bCARITAL STATUS OF THE PATE~UAL GHkNDi;.OTHERS marital status percentage - --- Divorced 1 Remarried 8 Separated 2 Dead 12 No r0cor.d 77 Even for the small fund of information on this topic one can see that the percentage of broken homes ranks high as a cause of delinquency, because twenty-tnree per cent of the homes for witich records were obtained, were honles in which abnormal conditions existed. Paternal grazdfather. Information about the pater- nal ;:randfathers w~s el very scarce. For sixty-six per cent there was no record of' age. They were, however, con- si6erably older than the paternal grandmothers. TABLE XXX AGES OF PATERNAL GMI\TDFATf IERS Ages Percentage Between 40 and 49 6 Between 50 and 59 15 Between dO and 69 10 Between 70 and 80 3 Un kn ovm 66 The paternal grandfathers were older then the maternal orandfathers, for only one per cent of the maternal grand- 3 fathers were between 70 and 80 years of a,?.e, while three per cent of the paternal gran?.fathers were between those ages. This information had little value because the other sixtg- six per cent for which there was no record may have been con- siderably older. For sixty-five per cent of the paternal grandfathers there was no occupational record. The record, however, seems to be similar to that of the maternal grandmother as can be seen by the table given below. TABU XXXI OCCUPATI ONS 0 F THE PATEH?AL GRANDFATHERS Occupations Percentage Professional 6 Clerical 7 Skilled 7 Unskilled 15 Unknown 65 There was so very little information concerning the education of the grandfathers, tk~t it was thou, ht wise to omit this entirely. It was also difficult to learn nuch a- bout the marital status of many of the paternal grandfathers; but we can see that a 1-~ge prop~rtion of those, for whom records were found were divorced, sepzrated, or dead, thus leaving broken homes. If the child of illegitimate birth is to have his just share of parental czre, it is necessary to know the status of his parents and whether they have other ties which wil.1 minimize the child's prospects of home and support. It is interesting to note how many of the parents were married at the time studied or viere separated or divorced. In this study nine per cent had been previously married, but were separnted from their husbands or wives; ei-ht per cent were divorced; two per cent were widows, and four per cent had previously given birth to at least one illegitimate child. Of the fathers, fifteen per cent were mrried at the time of the birth of the child, two per cent had been married but were divorced, and three per cent were separated from their wives . Child. In this study of the unmarried mother, the child. \?;as taken into consideration only as it affected the mother, The following outline contains facts relating to I the baby. FACTS ABOUT THb IL.I~GIT Iifi1ITl3 Q1ILD --- -- Nature of fact Percentage Normal Sirth Per-mature birth Natural birth Instruxent birth Caeserean birth Breast fed Adopted Readjusted in the home Placed in free home As has been stated before, the agency thrau;h which this study was mad.e, is prilr.aril;yr an adoptive agency. This accounts for the large percentage of babies who were placed for adoption, The babies were not legally adopted until they had been in the homes for a year. Workers are sent out once a month to visist the homes to record the child's de- velopment and adjustznent in his surroundings. Us the end of' a year, if' the family is satisfied with the child and if the worker is co:ivinced that the child is being properly provided for, then the adoption becomes complete . In the table it ivill be noticed that fifty-three per cent of the babies were 3reast fed. Idany of these were thus fed only for a few days, however. :L very few were breast fed for over three months. 111. APPARENT CAUSES OF ILLEGITIMACY AS REVEALED BY THIS STUDY It might be well before going further to give a brief summary of the findings of this study and, if possible, to determine some of the causes of the mother's delinquency. In the first place, it is interesting to note the ages of the parents. The fathers, as would seem ria turd, were older than the mothers. In two instances, tb fathers were as much as three times as old as the mothers, who were only thirteen and forteen years of age and were not cornplete- ly responsible for their acts. On the other hand, som of the older mothers, because of lack of training, childish- ness, and other reasons, did not realize the consequences of their acts. As far as the education of the fathers and mothers 53 wss concerned, it seems thzt as their progress in school was I I concerned they acre very sinilar to other young people of ! equal nge. Yje can see, if this be true, that their educa- tion would have little to 30 with t'neir illicit relations. Kentality is often considered a major factor in any form of delinquency. As far as code be determined from the records studied for this report, seven ?er cent of t31e .:others and none of the fathers xere judzed to be of low mentality. However, as intelli,;ence tests vsere nc~t given, it is im- possible to deterrfiine -7hether the l~arent 1 s delincluency was due to mental deficiency. Their occupations were probably a factor which in- fluenced some of the mothers into the wrong path. This fact has been referred to previously in this study. It has beer! found in all studies of this nature that a great percentage of both the mothers and fathers was engaged in unskilled fields of labor. Also a considerable proportion of the moth- ers were engaged in domestic service. As the occupation has without doubt been a determining factor in other studies, it is probebly that it had its influence on the mothers in this study as well. There can be no doubt that the broken home had a great influence over the mother's and father's life. The importance of the broken home in ~ihicn one of the parents is dead or has deserted, or in which both are deceased can not be overlooked in the study of the un::~ar.ried mother. As can be seen by reading the previous pages, many of the homes were broken. In this study it was found that twenty-one per cent of the maternal grandmothers and twenty-nine per cent of' the maternal grandfathers were dead, making a total of forty-nine ner cent of the immediate parents studied who had only one parent living. Tile fact that many of the for- mer had remarried in itself may have caused the mother to become delinquent, 'r~ectiuse of her fail-me to adjust herself to life with the step parent. There were also nearly twenty per cent of the parents who were separated m ciivorced. This makes a total of near- ly seventy per cent of the homes studied, which were broken. Besides these, several of the homes, though not bro- ken, furnished bad environment for the mother. Ignorance is an important factor in home environment, and though the home may be good, get it may lack instructions referring to sex and consequently furnish bad home conditions. A home such as this ~vould in many cases be a factor in brini~;in:. about the girl! s downfall. The following quotation will summarize in a few words the importance of home conditions in the life of a sirl. There can be no do-abt that the girl without a moth- er is most hapless in her training for life and is often in danger of a wrong moral developn!ent. Knd if she has a mother but no father, economic conditions are usually unfavorable, with thel~esult that oversirht and training are quite impossible. IV. LIFE STTJDIBS OF FTVE OF THE XIOTHERS These histories which follow concern five of the nothers about whom information was gathered in the report which precedes this chapter. The foll-owing sumr,aries were nade by the secretary of the agency froz which these records were taken. Very few changes were made in copying these histories. Hist= number one. The child with whom this report is concemed~oPn~eptember 5, 1932. The mother, Mary, had been in Los kngeles for six years . She was born in South Dakota in 1903. She wss married to Hhine, cho was not the father of the subj ct, 16arch 3, 1922 and divorced in 1930. Nary had three yecrs of high school, some business training, and worked as a stenographer. The alleged father, Everett, born in California, was about twenty-six years old and was a steel worker. Mary had three children beside the subject; Pauline, who was born in 1924, William, born in 1926 and Dean, born in 1928. IJaryls ear:Ly life avcs conditioned as fo310ws: The maternal grandfsther died at the age of forty-seven of acute throat infection. He was born in Ireland and had been employed for some time as a superintendent in a coal mine. The maternal grandmother wms born in Wales. She was a hard working woman and after her husband's death work- ed outside her home as a maid. In this family there were six children beside the mother of the subject. Two were born in !Kales. A11 made fairly good adjustments. The older children were much better of'f so far as education is concerned. Two were stenoqraphers; one had some musical training: one went to sea, etc. Irrary married a man about whon: she knew very little and there w~s more or less disapproval by the family, although by that time there wcs not the united family group there had been before the death of the father. IV G.B. h;angold, Children Born Out of Wedlock, p. 50. --- The rnotherts married life was e.lways more or less tragic. For a time she lived in Viashingt-on, then calr:e to C~lifornia. Her husband periodically deserted her; ha6 mo-e children thpn he felt he cou1.d supnort, and ~-?:las alwsyr ~101~63 cr less interested in other women. Tile mother h~d him arrestee numerous times on chsrlyes of non-su;?port. Finally he dis- sppeared altogethera. The mother x; r, given aesistance by several organizations in Los iingeles, also by her sister. f5ventuallg she became acquainted ~:ith R 1T;:<.rl in the nei6;h- borhood who called upon her from tii~~e to time. -/.'hen she becane pre&:nant, she pc-:17suaded re.lat,ives ',(; ~..ccc!:I. ?-:er cl;i.ldren, aric? told the worker viho hc4d. been 'l-leiping her th:_:.t she pias ~r-in.: to Arizona and then zained adrqlttance to a maternity home. iL1l the ckildren in this i'amily are no:rmal, we3.1 de- vel.ot-vd. gounrsters zitn {;oar: n?ent:ilit:r. The child was eccerjted by the Childrenrs Home Scciety on the t'?eory that it ir:: s a placeable child and that the rnother could never malie an ndju::tmenf rith her I'arnil.~i, :,or v.5 th the older c'ni:!dren with the added. Su=.Sen of' a child thz t was nnt legitimate. The outstan6ing facts irl this case seen to be that the mothert s home, %idle it v:i'i.s a stablo h.ome with old \vorld stancio.rr!s, na.s sorne~~rhat handica?.\ed bccau~e of the death of' the f'atner, and the fact, thzt. the mother wo~;kec'i outside the honx in order to earn for the farrjly budget; the i:'othsrfs abili t.;,: to be a ;:a,e e::rner was al- xays hindered by the fact th t there vre1.e srr,::.-:.l.ier chil- dren. Illegitimacy ir~ this case proh:.bly denotes nothing more ser.?.ou.s th3.n lone 1-ine::s znri reac ti011 against her husbanrll 2 lac;: of I'icielity in his f&r:il!y re:!.atioiis . IZistorg nuaber two. Gertrude W:,S born 1.u :ust 12, -- 19:>3.. She v.cs a f'ulrtir.!e baby, havi~ - a birtk nei ht oi seven pounds snci was breast fed for two weeks. The mother, .:ellie, azs oorn in Cnica;.;o in 1910. She was of' Gr:r:.lan American desce:;t and. was a 1,iltheran by religion. Shi, coctpleted one ?nd a half' yec.rs of' high school at the aEe of fifteen. She ;?rrs un~~arrietl and worked i'or a tine in her nranclfatherfs of'fice, ne being a physlciarl. Tlie materrla1 :;rantifather W:,S born in Iliin_Lesota; and ~8 s oi' German descent. lie v;# s a physician 1:;;;llo taught for a time in a rredic:ii coLlege. The maternal crnnd- lo tiler ciieci vthen l\~ellit?, the mother of oar subject;, was fifteen years old. idellie becarre the constarit corripanion of' her father, working in his office and hac a tutor abo ljelpecl her col>tl~ ine ler s tuzies. The maternal .:.ran( Sather had a1v;ays Seen a very studious person and did rather out- standing things in his profession. In 1931 the maternal grandfather and the mother came to California and located there. The grandfather immediately established himself in doing a certain kind of research work. At the end of the first year he became infatuated with, and married, a girl very near the a;e of Nellie. From that tine on, the mother felt herself an outsider; worked in other offices; lived xith ac aunt in Los Bngeles, and felt quite estranged from her original family qoup to whom she seemed most im~ortant . She met the father of this child, Arthur, over a year previous to the birth of the baby. Arthur mas born in 1899 in New Hsmpshire. He was an American of English and Scotch descent, and an Episcopalian. He completed three years of nigh school. He murried in 1920, and his wife died in 1922. For some years he vdas employed az a sales- am and made very good money, but at that tine was having financial diffic-aities, The paternal grarldfather was born in Boston and v:as of English and Scotch desce~lt. He was an electrical engin- eer. The paternal grandmother was born in New Hampshire and :as of English and Scotch descent. She had a high sc2lool education. In this family them l:!as one other ooy who was born in 1998. He became a contractor and builder. This family was stable. The farnilics on both sides for many generations viere dependable, American stock, who made good adjustments. The pother couldn't face her f~ther mlcl relitives with an ille- gitimate chil6. She loved the childts father and he loved her. There was some discussion of marriage. The final decision was th?.t the child should be placed for adoption, since it would never be possible for them to reconcile either fanily to the child born out cf v;edlock. Undoubtedly the outstanding c?iff'iculty in tk~is case was the mother's lzck of friends of her oan age at the proper time; her feeling of lack of permarlency of her place in her fatnerl s home vdnen he mai,ried a young girl. Iiistorg number three. Ruth was born ilove~bcr 10, 1931 at the Grahan 1~:aternit:r :lome. Sne v.8~ a full time be-by who had a normal, natural birtn. Her birth vireiqht was seven pounds and six ounces. The mother, lizabeth, v:as oorn Larch 2, 1912 in 1Qevi Jersey. She was of Scotch descent. She completed the ninth grade in a Los Angeles school. She ras overv:eight and would be classed as dull normal. The maternal grandfather who aas fifty-f'if'e years old, was born in Finla.nd. He was a fish peddlcr with little education. The maternal gr8ndriother was fifty-three years old and of Scotch descent. She had avera5e education and was an excellent housekeeper. In this fanily there cere three children beside the mother of our subject. Charles, al-eci txn:enty-seven had a -igh school education and T:;as a nelder by trade. Ada, aped tv;enty-six had a hi~h school education. She was married and made good adjustment in her home. John, aged eleven, was doing very ~:lell in his first year in high school, Very little is known about the slleged f'rther. Patern- ity was not establiske(l. He had been connectec ~ith the studios as an ani:iial trainer, and :,as knovrn as "~rench~". He had been married and divorced. The maternal faaily was typically foreign in attitude and tre f~tncr believes in stri-ct cbedience f'rom his child- ren. The .clothera nas r,n excellent i-,ouselccoper., but lacked understz-;c;irllg of' r oderr-r youtri. The *!jotl~er of our s~tb ject wap alll-:;~s consid:i.x~ec a proclem. She ciid as v~ell in school as the othzr children, but showed very little interest in school. Her health was good vith the exception of knuinp suffered from the St, Vitus D~.nce when she was seven years old. Prob~.bly she h~d very little evotional outlet 1;;ith- in her family roup. This mother vias studied by tho Psycholcg,ical and Psy- chiatric Clinic and her 1.Q. was giver1 as below 88. She as -nr,d in problevs re-uiring visual ima.gerg of the con- crete type. She covle concentrate when she was calm. She vras very responsive and easy to please. There was evotional insteoility. The :lutstandin~ haoit th~t is fundamental in her maladjustment was hcr ir~ability to face a situation truthfully. Probably one difficulty rias the fact that she felt her inability to compete favor- able, intellectually at least, with other members of her family. She had a strony sex interest ond her beh~vior in general w-s childish and careless. Iiecomiendations mere ma:!e f'or trairiine, in some inter- esting occupetion outside the home and for Endocrine treat- ment s. The child was acceptec for placement and placed in an averar-re home of America11 people. The child made very good adjustment in this home and there seems every rezson to believe that she will develop into a nom;lal person. The mother was ref ered to another aqency for sl~pqrvision. History number four. Barbara v~ilas born October the twenty-ninth .-~er mother, Eelen, was borr, Septenlber 9, 1907, in Salt Lake City. She had a high school education and business training and had viorked as a steno~rapher. The father, Howard, was born January 16, 1906, in California. He had been married three times and had three children, one by each marriage. At tzie tin10 of the aqen- ciets first contact, he was not divorced from his third :vif e . The mother VJRS brought up with nany luxuries. To begin with, her family considered quite obove the avera,ye in the comunity, so fnr as bac1q:roud and culture were con- cerned. The maternal grandfcther xas a mining man; and had a colle-e education. He was born in Philadelphia, of English parents. The maternal grandxother was well educated and was very proud of her backgroud. In the farzily, there were bi.0 other girls besides the pother of our subject. These tzo cirls were well educated, the older one havin? complbted col-Lege, and had some addi- tional special trainirg in music. This girl married a doctor arid had not been higilly successi'ul in her adjustment, since she had zliq:ays be,n rnxious for independence, or in- dividual expression, which she f'elt rrarriage had denied her. The second daughter married and made an excellent adjustment. The mother of our subject is the youngest of the fa~ily and about the time she shoul-d have been havinc nlore advan- tages, the mining business became very difficult and the maternal grandfather lost much money. Also, he became very des~onderlt. Khile not in any sense a rtentnl case, undoubt- edly financial dif'ficulties and despondency caused his death. The ~randrxother 2nd ~othf:r of the subjc:ct then came to California. Helen c. reci f'or her mother. She secured sever&: very good positions; knew a good many young people, end had very strict ideas :::s to behavior and mf2s at tines considered prucish. The father of this baby iv.~as older than Eelen; was quite sor)hirticated; ha6 charm in^ rznners trld the r,&other ~r.as, quitc ril:votcd to hi . In order to save the niaternal grar~C- ~~otner' s f el lings, tlelen told h(,r tnat she 2nd Eo~.ard, the fetkler of this baby, hrd been secretly married. About this time positions tn.ere difficuit r,o procure; tne r~other lost her nosition; and the f'ariiy siturtion, so far as finsnces were concerned during the year and a half foliowing, viere desperate. It -4:~s cliscovored that the f~ ther of this baby Cid not have a divorce, w2s not f'ree to marry, and v18s not the type of person who he12 a position ior any lcn.,th of time. The Children's home Society gave six months care to the baby, secured a free hoce for one year, aiid then the nother was able to n:y boar? in a silpcrvisec! home for several months. The maternal granclinother was finally willing to accept the child, a.lthou,:h she still feels thtt the fanily is irreparably disgrnced. The father soon secured a final divorce decree, and found a position. 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J.c'. ?:j~lraye aorl;* RESLi1,TS OF TIiIS SPECIAL STCDY C GLIPAHBD \';ITH 0TL.L: K ST UJ.jIbS This cljapter nil1 be devoted to a conqparison of the studies made by Troustine, who studied conditions in Cin- cinate; ~,.attinglg, who made a study of ill.e,-;itimacy in Cleve- land; Kamere, who made a sir~ilar study of Boston, and !v:an- gold, who wrote a book on illegitinlacy in general and this study of one iu~ndred unmar~ied mothers in Los lingelos. In ~ai:ing this comparison three main points will be considered. These points are: age, occupation, and home conditions. Tables will be given to give a clearer picture of the facts. . The following tables viill cive som idea of the ei;es of tae ~tothers in the va.rious stuc'ies. Per cent 15 or less 16-18 19-21 22-25 26-25 35-40 over 40 . 8 I H. Troustine, Illegiti~~c~ - in Cincinnati -.. -9 p .30. Ti'lBLE XXXIV AGES 03 L:GrI'IIEi?S IA KAb.ii.hK:..R 1 S ST LJ1X2 -- ------ ---- ----- -- Age Number -------.-- - -- 13 -4 u 14 1:; 15 29 16 44 17 59 18 61 19 59 20 65 21 31 2% u "1 2 3 73 24 9 25 6 26 15 27 4 28 9 29 3 YO 7 Over 30 22 Unlinov!rin 5 21Lattinglg, - The Urinarricd hLcther -- ;ind HCP Child, p .25. TABLE XXXV AGES OF MOTHERS IN B'LATTINGLY1 S STUDY^ Age Nwnber 1 ? Between 19-21 22 23 24 Betweerr 24-25 27 29 30 5 Over half 3 2 2 12 2 1 1 TABLE XXXVI AG?:;s @F (1 HE: u?j j, Aj<~:: Ilj,u ;, <;,~~J,~~,~<~ 11,j LCJS 11:; G-,,Lzz ii ge Percent Under 16 16-21 21-25 uver 25 In corrlpzLrini these studies as to a-;e it v!ill be :!ore convenient to divide the unmarLried rriothers into ace groups. In the studies made by Troustine, Mattingl;:, and Kamerer we will- consider, in the first group, girls tv~enty-one years '~amnerer, - The Unmarried Mother, p.3'8 and under, in the second group, those f'rorc twenty-tv!o to txenty-five; 7::hile in Idangold's study and in this one, the first group consists of girls tv~enty and under, and the second twenty-one to t:;enty-f our. Since the studies made by Troustine, hiattingly and Kammerer incl.ude in their sgre group in^ one more yeas than B~angold's study of Philnc1elphia and Boston and this study of Los An_eles, it is necessary to make two separate tables. TABLE XXXVII AGE GKCTJFIGC; OP I.ICTIGFiS - - - - 21 years 25 years 25 years Study or less or less or over Troustine 6% .4 86.7 13.3 Idattingly 50 73 27.6 Kammerer 72 85.6 14.4 -- Under 21 Under 25 25years Study years years or over Rangold Philadelphia 49.1 Boston 33 .4 Los An,zeles 46 In studying these tables we find that the percentages of nothers tl?;ent;p-one years old or undkr was as follows: Troustine 62; Mattingly, from 50 to 60; Kaimerer 72. In 66 Mangoldts report 49 per cent of the Philadelphia women and 33.4 per cent of the Boston cases were under twenty-one years of age. In this study 46 per cent of the mothers were under twenty-one years of age. If this study of Langoldls included those who were twenty-one years old as the other reports do, the persen- tages would be more similar. Vie come to the conclusion then, thst the percentages in these first age groups are very simi- lar, It is impossible to make any significant comparison of the studies relative to the motherts between twenty-one and twenty-five years of age, because the tables are not paralell. It will be noticed from the percentage comparison of the mothers over twent y-five years that Mattingly1 s study gives the highest percentage, 27.6, while Treustinels study shows the lowest percentage, 13.3. Kamererts study of five hundred casses shows a percentage slightly above the latter, 14.4. The percentage in the present study and that of Dr. Mangold are almost identical, 22 per cent as compared to 21.9 for Philadelphia and 22.8 for Boston, Occupations. It is a little difficult to compare the occupations as the Los Angeles group listed them under gen- eral headings. In making the comparison, domestics, laundresses, :vaitresses, factory workers, hotel servants will all be con- sidered unskilled workers. The percentage of unskilled workers are ns follows: Troustine, 65 per cent;4 Kamerer, 66 per cent;5 and 1;lan- old---St. Louis, 74 per cent; Milwaukee, 74 per cent; Bos- L ton, 68 per cent; Philadelphia, 88 per cent; Cincinnati, 69 per cent;6 Los Angeles, 42 per cent. The Los Anpeles percentage is considerably lower than any of the other figures. This may be due to the type of agency throujh which the st~6y vins made. It was prinari- ly an adoption agency and nang of the mothers who brought their babies for placement, were of a higher class than most unmarried mothers. In compnring the percentsges of unmarried nothers who were professional workers it was found that six per cent vrere of this class. Troustine and Kamerer give no record of any of the mothers being employed in the professional field.7*8 hZnngold reported for St. Louis, 1.2 per cent; hlilaaukee, 1.2 per cent; Philadelphia not any; Cincinnati, 1 per cent .' The %. Troustine, Ille-itimacy - in Cincinnati, p. 195. 5~.~. Kamxxerer. - The Unmarried Iviother, p. 89. 6@.~. L!angold, Cldbldren -- Born Out of V!edloclr, p. 68. 7~. Troustine, Illegitimacy - in Cincinnati, p. 195. 8~.~. Kammerer, - The Unmarried Tiother, p. 23. 9 G.B. Mangold, Children -- Born Out of Wedlock, p. 68 mothers in this study rank from almost 5 to 6 per cent above all of the other groups as far as workers in the professional field are concei7ned. In this field were considered teachers, social workers, nurses ~nd the like. Home Conditions. Exact figures have not been found - concerning the home conditions and marital status of the sothers in all of these studies, but general conclusions are ?,iven in most c:- ses. Mangold says: ma he study of unmarried mothers in Chicago indicates that sixty-one per cent of the total number were suffering from a broken or unnatural home like."1° Kamerer says that broken homes in which one of the parents is dead, divorced, or both parents zre dead have a pest influence over the girl's life. 11 In a study made under the asupiscies of the United States Children's Bureau it was found th6.t fifteen per cent of the mothers had no parental home; sixteen per cent lacked normal homes because of death, divorce, or sepgration of one parent; ten qer cent of the famllies had rn::.ternal qrand- parents aho aere of poor character or byere mentally below normal. l2 This gives a total of forty-one per cent of the nothers who carce from brokon klones. In this stuciy forty- nine per cent of the mothers were living in homes where one 1°1bid, p. 49 'l~anmerer, op. cit., p. 292. 12tJnited States Childrents Bureau, iio. 75, p. 57. 69 or both parents were dead. Nearly tiven'ig 9.r cent of the parents were separated or divorced. This makes a tot21 of sixty-nine per cent ~ii:~ were livinq in Srolcen homes. It will be noticed that this percentage is considerably higher than that of the United States Children's report. This conlparison leads us to conclude that a great factor in the clelinquency of' the others of this study is to be found in broken homes. The i~portance of the home as a deterring ifill~lence lne nrolren on the gotm, girl can:lot De over emphasize?. ""' home results in lack of oversight and ;uardi~.nship. The girls rut1 wild and soon reap the consequences. Step-paldents also frequently repel thetr step-cililiren so th-.t the latter form new and doubtful associations. "13 A large - percect of the unrnrried nothers come f'rorn homes wlrich ere not naroal. In conclusicn we can see thrit the ages of the rotheras in this sturqp v:zs ver;. sirfilar to that of othcr studies, n la? e percentate Geirii; quite young. As far as occupation is concerned, honover, this group ranks considerably higher than any of the other [-roups, having a reason~bly l:1rr-e percenta:e erployed as professional v~orkers. In consic?,e~.ing the horre conditions, the reverse seem to oe true, ior in Los kn eles the17e via s a larger percentage of the rrlothers who caqe from broken hoxes, than in snj of the other studies. 13i.langold, C.B., Children _- ..__- Born - Out __ of T;edlock, _I_- p.50. There is atyrosinp feeling th~t all children have the ripht to the necessities of life end prcper c2re, and a clairn for such unon those v!ho brought therr into being. These tendencies are changing the t~ne of legislation in bastardy natters. Eistorp of' the :, over~~e~t. Lit1,le l~ove~~nment?l care -- -- and nrotectinn of il le( itirqate chil?rr;n l.ere lnnrlifesterl un- til the TP;:~rld '"tar. In Englisk~ speakiria countries esnc ciallg it nas the rule for iviits unmorriefi mothers to abandon, ~ive ,-v;cLy or other!:ise dispose cf their iile itirate inf%nts; colored mothers have generally -- iolioiiied the opr,osite course. %ilo the rothers confinec~ent l:dac mollified by 2 restricted 11 hospitzl servicb, by rescue hope ", such 2~ tilose of the l'ation.11 Florence Critteriton ILi? :,ion and the Snlvztion Arnly, ar~d by child 1:;clfsre societies, private EE ter~nity homes, too oftcxl i'olrf!c? profit in rAisl:ssi~~g; of' rler iilf'ant; to a b:iby :'arm or i'octcr home where his lif'e was likely to be shor and 1 harrowing. Foundlinz asg Luns, orphrn hcmc s , child pl~cing apencies, maternity ho:ces aild si. ilrr a?encies ~.e now, hov:ever, increa ~ili: lg suu jectec! to public licen~irlg ~.nd inspection. Ille-i tixr te children are viewed os futu-e citizens, viorkers and soldiers and zs worthy as the legi- 71 tirnate of care and training. The state is findin:; it ad- vant:igeous both economically and culturally to assume of fice guardi~.nship over them. Legisletion, formerly con:>isted. primarily ~ith protecting the taxncyer, increasingly aims to ke::p mother and child tosether, to enforce ncj.rent~l responsi- bility and to insure the nea.ith, ;!rotection and eclucatrion of the child. It i~ight prove interesting to tell. briei'1.p a little of the ?-:isto;..; of t':e 1e;::al. rsl~r,c!: 01" iliegii;ir:ir:cg. lL silort 6iscussion ;;.ill be ?;iven c!n the la~?s ai'f~ictilic il.l.ecitir;.!acy in so:ne of the European ccuntries. Under old Rocian law the child belonged to neithcr father or mother, but this custom gradually changed and the ill.egitin:ate child ca:r;e to have ri;:hts ..- of support and sv.ccession with regard to his mother. Cons tantinc, hovfever, lt~.ter suppressed the child t s rights throu;.,h the r;;other. The most iaportant aspect of the lecis- 1c.tion of Constantine wr;. s bile iritroauction of the doctrine of le;?itimation by subsequent rnarri~ ~e. 1 ., Durir-c. the rricldie ayes the bast3.r~;~ were deprived of ~ll rights cnd were often considered outlay;:s. The cormon ln1:; of England aas ruthless in its dcrLial of rights to chi.L- dyen bopn out of wedlock. The law recop;nized no re1cti.cn be- ty:#een the child and his !r other and father. E'rorn middle ages - 'A.c. Jacobs, "Illegitimacy: Legal ~spects," Ency- clodedie of Social Science p.285. - -- --, to modern times no great improvement in the legal position of the illegitimate child occured except ns to the removal of civic degradation. In France at the present time the court can inquire into the question of parentage, but only in cases of seduction, abduction and the admission of the father. 2 l~lore serious efforts have been rnzde in l\:ory!ay than in any other country to break ansy from the traditions1 way of handling illezitiz-acy. For years the Norwegian Parlicnent has been trging to Pass laws relatinp; to this subject. A law passed in 1916 so chan-.ed the customary poifit of' view thnt the word illegitimacy is not even recognized.3 In the first place the state becomes sort of a fos- ter rcotner and. public aid is given to both the married and unmarried motner. In the second place the child has the right to assume the father's name. The n1a.n is considered a father rather than a "puyta.tive proyenitor." The law re- quires the state, not the mother to initiate the proceed-ings for the support of the childe4 In the third place tbe illegitinste child has rights of' ixheritance equal to rights of children under lawful marriage. i; A.C. Jacobs, op.cit., p. 582 3 B.R. ETan~old, Children -- Born - Out - of 'JJedlock, p. 179 4 Jacobs, loc. cit. -- Xorvrey now holds all of the men implicated responsible and each must share the burden. Perhaps this part of the law is a little too drastic. If the mother, undcr oath, names a man as father of her child, he must either scknoaledge or dis- prove the charge. Unless non-acess for a period ranging fron 302 to 180 days before the birth of the child can be proven by the man or the men charged with possible responsibility for paternity, joint support is required, Under these conditions the cnild. does not errjoy the right of inheri- tance from his fatheras The Sl~:e?.ish law of 1917 gives the child born out of \-;ec?loclr no right of inheritance from the f'ather except in case of the "bethrcthal child.' Since an amendment of 1928 the father may by declnration stipulate that the child shall in- herit from him. Responsibility for support isplaced on both parents. Unless otherwise ord-ered by court the xother has the custody and legal guardie.nship of the child. It is provided that the parent not having the care of the child is to meet the ~~i~tenance expenses. A guardian is appointed before the birth of the child, whose r2utg itis to see the child's rights are protected, to proceed regar2ing par8ternity and collect the support. In Sweden the burden of proof in regard to paternity is on thc person instituting the ~roceedinzs and not on the alleged f'ather, as in Norway. 5 G.B., Mangold, Children --- Born Out of \Vedlock, p.179. - 74 In all but n few c-c-mtrios legitisation by s.-zbssquent zerria;~e of the ~arents is nor ~ecognieet?, althuu~rh ~,iultcrZnc or inceatuoirs c!~ilc?resn a, z gcncralf y oxso~ted, Tho doc trine wr:s finally fintro8uced il-lto Enyime by the Ille, itimcy Act of 1'J?u, which gave such a child all t!,a ri:.hts of inhcfitnnce whfch he v~ould have fire if Sorn If. .i't,irr.atce 6 Tfrrs nunbcr of countries assirA2at;e claaelg the reletion of tho nother and the ill .-itin:~t;c chPld to that of tho moth~r c?n? t,od;ftiz:ltc c:-,ild is till srffill. Xnc7oe:r' fia u prlnr: clo it grevnils pririciphl! y in tho Cur~:oriic cu~mtrios. Thus Austria 13nd Sv:itzorlanA mar bo rrarrt50nod in air12tion to Gormny grid tho ScnndLr.nvinn counti,it.n. Tha vol untarg &chow- Xerlge? -ont of m illc i tir.:.i-t. chiSc7 nor ; cnei7~?.1) e~tai.3-s oone pl;htj of inj~eritfirr~e. In --ost places, ha:.cver, t'C3 C3stl.b- Ifamnt; of the putative father is still r zinly for tl~o pzr- post of scc~wing c;uppotat far the illcgitLmtltc child. 'Fh:rke in 0.-e nrovision f'or co-pall iiq support in yractict.ily ell c almt 14.e 3. 7 In the Wilted Stztcs thc:c mhy % found fllc:.%tilq.acy lows of pr~ctic~llg all krior,n typos f'rarr t! e r:ost backv:nrd 6~. C. Jacobs, " 11le itims.cy: ta~,r:l ~specta," - Pncp clopedia or' Social Science, p-f-84. 7 to the most advanced. At the one extrezle are t-e laws of a felr: states such as Texas, Lousiana and Virginia., which make it impossible to secure support. At the other extreme are such liberal laws as the Kinnesota law of 1917, which charges the duty to the state of securing for the child "the nearest possible approximation to the care, support and education that he would be entitled to if' born of lavfful marriage. lt8 Then came the law of Earth Dakota in 1917, followed. by Arizona in 1921 wnich declared thet every child is the legitimate child of his natural parents .9 Suggestions -- for a hiodel - Law. People give different ideas as to what should be included in a model law for ille- gitimacy. In the following few pages the writer shall try to give in a general way some of the more important phases of such a law, upon which most of the authorities a;?ree. There is a general agrecrfient arnong c onlpetent author- ities as to the inportrznce of cbmplete and accurate birth re- gistration, not only as the !)asis for scientific studies, but for the prot!:-ction of the child. The sarne facts should be recorded with reference to th.e il~c[;;itimatc child as with the ligitimate child.1° The name of the father, who is at least %bid, p. 285. 9- Jacobs, op. c&., p.285. -~n - I \J H.H. Hastinip, The Registration of 1ll.e .:itimate Births, - a Prevention - of 1nfant Eortality, -+ p.2 equally responsible with the rncther, should. be included on th.i.3 birth registration. The paternity of the child should be established. The mother should be persuaded to start proceedings if pos- sible, but if not bhe state departmerit should assume this responsibility. The Proceedings should be in private and should be initiated witkin five years f'rom the date of the birth of the child, or within five years after support has ceased. 11 A,:ain every child shall be deemed the child of natural parents. l2 The I6issouri Children! s (;ode Com.ission drew up the following staterent: s very child . . . , 1::hether born in or out of laeful wedlock, shall ;e de:med in law the child of its parents, 2nd the legal relation of parent and child. shall. not depend upon the parents being narrhied. 11 13 An act should also be passed perzitting the court to compel the several men who are sho7iyn to have been intimote sith the unmarried mother during the period when the child n;ust have been conceived to contri13ute to its support. 14 ''~nited States Childrenfs Bureau, "~esolution~ of the Mew York Hegional Conference," No. 77, p.18. 1 n LC; G .Be blan?old, Children --- 3orn Out of ":edlock, - p .181. 13 P.G. Kammerer, - The -_ Unrnarrisd ---* --_ -__,___r Kother P -25. 14IGanqold, - op. G., p.181 Another in~portant step would be the abolition of the cornon law .~:arria&e. h act should also be passed providing that child desertion shall include desertion to parents of illegitimate as well as legitimate children.15 A child born out of wedlock shou7,d have the right of inheritance f'ro~ its parents . If a man havine a child by a woman, shall hereafter marry such aomcn, such child shall be deerfled the lawful child of -, ,. both father and mother as from the time of its birth .IU Under present conditions very fevi states have laws reqixiring the support of the child by the father. B IZodel lse on illegitimacy should include such a statement. An- other ixportant thing to be considered is the supervision and re-;ulation of' n:!ter.ni ty ncmes . Ijras tic le~islation is needed 50 control these homes. Appropiate laws must be passed to govern such pr~ctical activities as receiving, cnrin-; for orrci the trez t~:eiit of pre.:_~ri~~lt ;;:oxen. 17 include pensions for unrflsr+;.if;d mothers. In Englar.6 a law hzs been passed so tha.t under certain conditions the ill.egi- timate child may becoae the beneficiary of a scperation allow- 16!? .G. kb.~rnere~, The Unmarried ;..other p -26. - -.-- --, 7 rl I I G .Be !Gan.;olci, Childr*en Born Out of' '?;edlock p.169. - - - -9 78 ance. The system of meternity insurance has also been extend- ded in England to include both married and unmarried mothers. 18 The age of consent should also be raised. to fifteen or sixteen years of age and an act should be passed in connec- tion with this fixin~ the age at which girls ccin marry with parent's consent at fifteen years. One can see 2y the anove sugyestions th0.t ~uch re- mains to Se done along legislation lines for the protection and care of illegitimate children. Education, however, is a slow process and it will be years bef'ore people will real- ize the necessity of paseing such lairls as were suggested on the few previous pages. Until now, American administration had done little to solve this problem, but it is hoped that in future years much in1i.11 be accomplished. CIlAPT'.>ILI VI SUS?I,AKY AND CONCLUSIONS The preceding ch~pters have dezit with a stuuy of one hundred unn;ari.ied mothers along with other rnnterial which h~d to deal rith ill tpitimcy. The lirst cr~zpter of the sturly save resultz chicrlg in the for^ of ststistics zhov:inrv the alnount of ille@itimacy in f'oreign countries and t.he U~ited States. It is intcrcstin~ to nott thnt the rats of' il Le~itii~~c;~ ~LI ti-e 5rlited States is rr'~c11x:i Lly in- cre:isin,i-, 1::hilc the fi~ures of Europe show .: decrease in most instances. This, however, may be due to niore accurate ~t~tistics, ratilc;r than to an actual increase in the number. One csn see that the problem of illegitiriacy is an impelling fact which cannot Se overloLked. The rzte oi' illegitil~lacy in the cities is also much ili~her than for the country as a whole. This is partly due to the positl-on of the city as a place of 12efuze liliier>e t1;e other c:in ccr:?er 1 her irieniity and also have the u~e of the cities various ~[rencies and maternity homes. There is al.so a wide difference betr-een the figures f'or the white and colored no hers. The rates for the colore6 ri~others are exccptionz-Lly high, but -:;hen considered in 1i;ht of their social background the reason can nore easily be determined. However, the rate has de- creased in the last tno decades from approxi~lntely tv~enty- five to fifteen per cent. 1 The aEe distribution shows that forty-six per cent of the unmarried mothers were under twenty-one years of' age, Therefore, in a large number of cases illegitimacy was the result of youth and inexperbience, a probably lack of sex education a.nd ignorance of the results of their actions. The education of the mothers was apz~crently thrt of the comvunity as a it~nole, one havind secured her Master's Degree, The mentality of the others in this study seems to rank above that of most unmarried mothers, for only eight per cent mere classified as having low mentality. However, so intel- ligence tests were given, so too much value cannot be attached to these figures, Only six per cent of the mothers were re- corded as having poor health. The occupations of the mothers presents an interesting study in itself. The largest percent- aqe sere unskilled workers and those engaged in clerical work, forty-txjo per cent being in the former group and eighteen per cent in the latter group. Eleven per cent were students and nine per cent were unemployed. For ten per cent there wa.s no employment record and the remaining were skilled or pro- fessional workers. The grandparents were comparatively young and this should have indicated a greater capacity of oversight of I 3'. Frazier, "Analysis of Statistics on Negro Ille- ~itimacy in the United States," Social Forces, p.249 &> 81 the children than was actually exerted. The education of the grandmothers was inferior to that of their children. 9 The occupations of the grandmothers on both the father's and mother's side was also quite different than that of their children, as very few were employed outside of the home. However, twenty per cent of the maternal grand- mothers were gainfully e~ployed and this in itself may have been a factor in the girl's delinquency. Conditions in the mother's parental home also grove to be inportznt for con- sideration. The percentage of broken homes ranks high as a cause of delinquency, as twenty-three per cent of the homes for which records were obtained, were homes in which abnormal conditions existed. If, because of death, separation, or di~,orce, the home is not normal, it will affect the cond~zct of the child. The instances of death, divorce, seppration and remarriage in the mother's parental home were quite frelluent . Twenty-nine per cent of the maternal (;randfathers and twenty-one per cent of the maternal grandmothers were dezd. There were a230 twenty p-r cent of the pareats I&O were separated or divorced making a total of nearly seventy per cent of the homes which viere broken. The remarriage of tke pcrent vrp.s also a very i~portant factor, as a step-mother or father often couses great friction in a home. On the other hand if the mother is a widow and is forced to be the Sread winner, the children .~vill be without much needed supervision. 82 Fithout a mother in the ho~e there is Likely to LJe even less supervision, as it is difficult for a father to understand and properly care for a daughter. The education of the fathers very sizilar to that of the mothers. For those for vrnom records were avail%~ble it was found that the mentality of ths fathers ~2~f.s slightly higher than that of tile mothers. lijhile inly six p( r cent of' the motherls ldT;ere engagec in professional nork, t~-xlve per cent of the fathers were \-,orking ;:n this field. This may be due to the vicious a code of morals, whereby men praotect the women of their own social class, but consider those of lower class as objects of prey. As in several inntances the n70ther scarcely was ac- quainted with the father, it can be seen that the inf'ormation concerning the fathers vias quits scarce. One chapter in the study is devoted to a corzparison of the results of this study sith other siirilar renorts. The ape of the mothers 2nd fa.thers rr:us not so very difi'erent from th-t of t?e other studies, 5ut the edlxcaticn~l record indicated thst the uzrents in this stu2y hsd attended school longer than the majority in any of the other studies. :'he r:.entality vms also higher, there i~eink: only a fei; w,lo were clascec! as sub- normal. The percenta e of skilled and prof'es~ional workers in this study is also ruch higher th8.n in the other studies; while those employed, as unskilied v~orkers was considerably less than that for the other studies, as can be seen by the following figures. The workers classed as unskilled were as follows: Troustine, 65 per cent;:! Kammerer, 66 per cent;3 h4an.gold ---St. Louis, 74 per cent; JkJilwaukee, 74 per cent; Boston, 68 per cent; Philadelphia, 88 per cent; Cincinnati, 69 per cent;4 Los Anyeles, 42 per cent. One can see by the above comparisons that in several ways, nar ely aec, education, ngentalit:;, md occupation, this Los dngeles group ranks above tke lcothers in other studies. It is difficult to account for this fact, but one important item is the fact that there were no colored mothers in this study, while there were sone in all of the other studies. Another factor is that the agency throup,h which this study WES made, is prirnrily an adoptive aFency, theref'ore the niothers who would come to this agency wou.ld be t1;ose who wished to dispose of their children. The colore(1 mothers and white rothers in the lower strata of life are more apt to keep their children, as they do not feor social disap- proval as do those in hi,her ranlis of siciety. Also as the Chil+renfs :lore Society adopted out r~st of the babies, it is prob~ble that thcy xere not so eager to accept chil- dren v~hor~i thcy would have difficulty in plccin-. All of 2 Troustine, Illegitimacy - in Cincinnati, p.195. 3 Kammerer, P .C+. - The Unmarried hother, p.89. 4 Kangold, G.E. Children ___ Born Out of P.edlock, p.58. 84 factors together nay have had their influence in making the xothers in this study above most of the unmarried mothers in the respects given above. However, there must have been many other fsctors which could not be determined. The final chapter in this thesis dealt with the legal aspects of legetimacg sug{<esting a model law on illegitimacy. Up until recent years little notice has been given to this aspect of theproble~. However, there is a groviinr feeling tha-t the child of illegitimate birth also has the right of proper care and the necessities of life. These tendmcies are ,3ra?ually affecting the legislation dealing with this problem. It is hoped that in the future the illegitimate child may have the scme rights as those of the leaitimate child Urec!:enrid;l;e, S . I?. , ij'arnl ly \<elf are - b,ol>lr -. in __a u :.3ctronol _ __- itan Conmi tg. Cl:lca;;o: The University oi' Shicago Prless, 1924. Callloun, AZ.!:., Socitil 3istorg of the kmerican People. Sleve- lancl: iiri;l:ur 1-1. C~E rlr_ Comphny , 1919. Gi.l:l-In, ,T .L. , Pove~ty ~~13. 3eperdency. Hew York : i'acliillan Compaury, 1911. I :;ooc:sell, i:. , -- Problems - of - the -A 3arr.il-;. llew Yo:-!: : 'I1l?e Cen- tury i: or 11- my 9 10 RE:. ~~aovcs, P.;:. , Social Froblems of the i.'ar,il~. 1'11" lade2:-~l:ia : -- - J.':. Lippi.ncott Corclpnny, (1<>2TT,- i - IIa~per, L!. 9 tr - St1xci.r - of -- Colored --I-- Ulm~:~r.r;ecl. I,;ot'ners -- in 1~0s hnycles. UnLvers i-ty of Southern (:aliSornia, Thesi s, 1932. iimlerer, P.G., The Unmarried --- 1;otl:er. New York: Little 3~0i"m zn~ COY-;)any, ~267- Lane-Cla;r;lon, J. ,LO , ?'kc Ciiilci i',ell"are --- ; .oirement . Lon~on: G. !jell and Sons Ltd., 1920. Leff .i.n,<well, h., Tlleziti.!:iac~- and the Int'lvence -- - of -.- Seasons iL;non Conduct. LonGon: Swaz Sorneriscl~Tcr~ slnci Corlpany, A- 1521. ].lan~;old, G.l.3: , Chi lcren Jorn - Out 0:' Leciloc!:. Collu-b-la ??iss- ouri; Un-lvers: ty 0:' i:lssour'_ Press, 1321. 121an~old, 5.3. , Problems oi' Cl~ilcl !:elfare. l:enr Yor1.r : The :,;sen: i 3.lm c 0t~:~an~,-l924~ - attin,, . J - The 'v'r~married I,.oti.ler -- and !:er Child. Cleve- lancl. Ohlo: School of Applied Social Science, Kcstern Parsons, E.C., - The li'arnily. Mew York: C.P. Putnamfs Sons, 1912, Heed, il., 1Jegl.o 1lley;itimac~ --- in New York City. New York: Col~mbia University Press, 1926. f',cvter, E.R., The Family. New York: B:cGrow-TIill 13001~ Co~vany, 1931. The Bitter Cry of the Chfldren. New Yorl.:: Sharpo, J., - -- The ~'facmilla~any, 1906. Smith, S.,G., Social Pathology. Mew York: IIlacmillrtn Company, 1911. Southaiad, L.L., of Evils. Zjiew 'k'ork: The - Zlacmillan 13. pER7.013ICki; ARTICLES irnongmous, "Xffect of Statutes hltering the Position of Illen.it i-mate Children on Judicial Construction of Vii 11s , " B~rvarC Lhn !ievlew, Ttiarcl1 1932. - ;3r Isle7, ; *.S., "lunble and Distracted," izamily, liovernber 1934. jlontlllue, Z;.B., "Children Born Out of V~e~locl:," The Annals - of the hmerican Academy of Poli-tical and Social Sclence, -- - - Septen:,er, 1930. Soav-ncs, J., '1Recordec3, Birth Stat isiics in Urban ani Hural kreas ," brnerican Statistical ~ssociation Journal, :larch 1:;29 . Frazler, E.F,, "hnalysis of Statistics on Negro Illeyitimacy In the Ii~ited States," Social Forces, December 1932. Gneron, E., "Turlcey Tac?:les Social Issues : New Law a;;;alnst ~lle;;it:irnacy, Chri-stian Centu.=.~, ihy 3, 1.233. Bedrick, A.W., "Birth Re,~istration Campaign," American Jour- - nal of Public Health, Much 1935. -- Heisterman, C .k., tt~tute Supervision of Ch'liren %om Cut of 'Ltdlock" Social Service Review, June 1933. Hornenway, H. E., "~irth Aiecords of illecit imate an(: of' hc?.opt- ed Ch:lc_ ren,' imerf can Journal of Public liealth Gune ,, -- - -3 1331. Eooker, S.A., "51006 Qrou-ping as a Test of IIon-paternity, I: Journal of Criminal z, July 1934. - Laushlin, C., "i?atherless 3abies," Pcarsons ldagazine, February 19 15. LIan);old, G.3., "llle~itimacy in St. Louls," - The Annals of the hmerican kcaciemy of Political and Social - - Science, hhy 1926, Eian,yold, G.D., "Unlawful L:~therhood,'~ - The --> Forum t'iarch 1915. LlcClure, lr;.ii. an!? Goldberg, B., "~ntelli[;ence of Unmarried llcthers, " Psycho10,~:ical Clinic, 1fay 23, 1231. I.;urphy, P., "1-lothers and b:others, ' - The Survey, Xay 1919. I.$eys, E.D., "Provision for the Illegitimate Child In Ger- many," Social Servi.ce Review, June 1931. Penrose, A., "Paternity?" Family, January 1933. Preston, C.K., "kood Csre of the Unmarried Iiiotkiers as an Inportant Phase of Preventive and Proteci.ive Viork, tt Jo.urna.1 of Locia1 IIygiene, Pebruary 1331. - Seabury, G.F., "Exclusively for Women, " Pictorial Heviem, ItIarch 1931. Smill, 5., married liliother, " Family, November 1028. Smith, E.L., "unmarried Nothers ," Harper1 s Vieekly, Septem- ber 1913. Taylor, H.J., "Nobodyts child," Woman's Journal, May 1913. I1 Freund, E., Illegitimacy Laws of the United States and cer- tain Foreign Countries," Washington Governnent Printing Office, United States Children's 13ursau, Publication Number 42, 1919. Lundberg, E .O., "Children of Illegitimate Birth and fileasures for their Protection," Government Printing Office, 1926: United States Children's Bureau, Publication Number 166. Lundberg, E.O., "lllegitinacy in Europe as Affected by the Yar , " l.%'nshington Government Printing Of gice, 1922: United States Childrent s Bureau, Publication nwnber United States Depzrtment of' Commerce, "~irths, Stillbirths, and Infunt Eortality statistics,'! United States Government Printin? Office, 1930. , IJnited States Department of Com~erce, "~irths, Stillcirths, and. Infant Ilortality Statistics,'' United States Governraent Print in& Of'f ice, 1932 . United States Children's 3ureau, "Illegitimacy as a Child Xelf are Problem, I' 1Vasllin:qt on liovemlmen t ?rin tin:; Office, 1920: iii~ited Statec. Ciiildrcnts Dllrenu, 2-tlb- lic~ tion rlunlber 66--75. GniteC States Childrent s Bureau, "Cnildren of Illegitim~te Birth '-!hose i,.ot.h[,rs Kept their Custody, II . fi'ashincton Government Printing Office, 1926: United States Childrerits Dureau, Publichtion number 190. Report of the idational Conference of Social ldork, fifty- ninth annual session, University of Chica~~o Press, 11 Chica;:~, Illinois, 1922. Progress in Le a1 Pro- tection for Children Rorn out of I':edlock. 6 National Conference of Com~A.ssion on Uniform State Laws, II 1926 : Urlif c)rrii Law on 111 egitimcg ."

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Asset Metadata

Creator Habecker, Viola Alice (author)

Core Title A study of one hundred unmarried mothers in Los Angeles

School Sociology Department

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Sociology

Publication Date 08/01/1935

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Age,case histories,Children's Home Society,education,health,History,home conditions,illegitimacy,Law,Marital status,OAI-PMH Harvest,occupation,Religion

Place Name California (states), Los Angeles (city or populated place), Los Angeles (counties), USA (countries)

Format [v], 2-89 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. (aacr2), masters theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Digitized by the University of Southern California (provenance)

Advisor Mangell, George B. (committee chair), Crawford, C.C. (committee member), McClenahan, Bessie A. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m16

Unique identifier UC1111371

Identifier etd-Habecker-193508 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-240 (legacy record id),usctheses-m16 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Habecker-193508.pdf

Dmrecord 240

Document Type Thesis

Format [v], 2-89 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. (aacr2),masters theses (aat)

Rights Habecker, Viola Alice

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions (213) 743-1672; https://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/locations/grand/

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu