Bothered and bewildered

Abstract

If single women increasingly see marriage and motherhood as separate commitments, perhaps the reason is that they are. The collapse of the traditional middle-class marriage bargain has left both sexes bewildered, but how can you make the sexes act as if they needed each other to survive when they do not? You cannot, so adapt institutions to the lives people live, give single mothers paid parental leave, day care, flexible schedules, child support, clinics with evening hours, equal pay and comparable worth. Not sermons.