Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage ‐ Edited by Kathryn Edin & Maria Kefalas

Abstract

Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage. Kathryn Edin & Maria Kefalas. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 2005. 293 pp. ISBN 0-520-24113-4. $24.95 (hardback), $12.95 (ebook). Politicians and laypersons alike can be overheard bemoaning the statistics concerning single parenthood among poor teenage mothers. These women are often berated for not waiting to have children until after they are in a stable marriage. Their morality may be questioned, and efforts to bolster their apparent flagging commitment to marriage are discussed. Current literature tends to focus on the larger issue of unmarried mothers and the effect single parenthood has on children. Promises I Can Keep focuses the discussion on the perspectives of single poor women and their choices. This represents the book's most important contribution to the literature and our understanding of the choices made by poor women in having children prior to marriage. Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas provide intriguing insights into the lives and decisions of poor single mothers in eight poor neighborhoods, five in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and three in Camden, New Jersey. Through a combination of observations concerning the social environment of the neighborhoods and interviews with the mothers, Edin and Kefalas provide a description of the women's experiences involving their relationships with their children's fathers and their children. With this information as a backdrop, Edin and Kefalas allow the women to explain their choices regarding childbirth and marriage. The book is organized into eight chapters. The introduction provides a brief explanation of the research methods used and a description of the field setting. A more complete description of both as well as the interview guide are found in the appendices. Individual chapters provide a series of discussions of various stages of the mothers' relationships with their children's fathers, the mothers' decision to not marry (or to divorce), an explanation of the meaning of marriage for the women, the women's definition of a good mother, and the impact of motherhood on the women's lives. The conclusion positions these discussions within extant literature and the broader social discussion of unwed motherhood. Ever present in the interview data is the influence of poverty on the lives of these women, their dreams for marriage and obtaining the white picket fence, and their love for their children. The women express a strong belief in the institution of marriage and a desire to marry. Although this is a dream they cling to, most mothers comment they do not wish to marry until they are able to support themselves and until their partner has a job that allows them to obtain some level of financial and physical comfort. …