INTRODUCTION:
The question which I would like to explore through this assignment is that why there is high trend of unmarried parents in United States and should it continue or not? According to a survey the percentage of unmarried parents witnessed around 83% increase (Jayson). There have been different debates and arguments regarding the causes and implications of this rising trend of unmarried parents. However, in this assignment I will like to explore the economic reasoning and theory behind this decision.
Different sociologists are relating this decision of being unmarried parents to the recent economic crisis (Jayson). It is being perceived as an ‘economic shock’, as people do not find them in the right position of entering into a marriage bond due to financial constraints. At the same time, people want to satisfy their different psychological and sexual needs; and thus are opting for being unmarried parents (Jayson).
This can be further explained with the help of the cost and benefit principle of economics. According to this principle, before taking any decision it is important to carefully analyze all costs and benefits associated with that particular decision. The final decision should only be taken if the overall marginal benefit from that particular decision or choice is greater than the overall marginal costs associated with it.
In order to do the economic analysis for the question under discussion, one has to first identify all costs and benefits associated with both decisions i.e. being married or being unmarried parents.
In order to get emotionally stable in their lives, people tend to take the decision of getting married and have kids. However, marriage is a long term relationship and demands full time dedication; not only emotionally but also financially. People normally decide to get married when they feel they are ready to take additional responsibility. Marriage results in increasing the overall expenses and costs associated with the daily living. Hence, the marginal revenue which one can derive from marriage is less than the overall marginal cost. On the other hand, the decision of being unmarried parent results in satisfying the psychological need of having kids and relationship without any long term commitment and cost. Hence, the marginal revenue of being unmarried parents is greater than the marginal cost associated with this decision. For this reason people now a day are opting for being unmarried parents.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION:
There has been going concern regarding the increasing percentage of the unmarried parents in United States. In this assignment this question has been analyzed from economic point of view and thus has generated a totally different point of view in this regard. According to the cost and benefit principles analysis, the unmarried parents tend to take this decision because they do not find themselves in the position of taking the financial responsibility associated with getting married and at the same time do not want to wait for having kids; hence they opt for a decision which has relatively less marginal cost and more marginal revenue as compared to getting married. Owing to this economic analysis of this question, it can be suggested that this trend of being unmarried parents should continue.
Work Cited
Jayson, Sharon. More children born to unmarried parents. Apr. 2012. Online. 15 Oct. 2013. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/story/2012-04-10/CDC-marriage-cohabitation-children/54186600/1
