OT: "The westernized world"

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:24 PM -0400 6/11/09, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>At 6/11/2009 08:25 PM, Herb Stahlke wrote:
>>I'm not sure the comparison between the rate of single mothers in the
>>US with that in Nordic countries is apt.  In this country much of
>>single motherhood arises outside of a long-term relationship.
>
>I'm not sure how true this is for the US.  My memory -- but I don't
>have the original source -- is that the report was that many single
>(that is, unmarried) mothers *are* in more-or-less long term
>relationships with the father.
>
>Joel

Ah, but they feel guiltier about it than their Scandinavian sisters!

LH

>
>>In
>>Nordic countries there is a wide-spread practice of living together
>>and raising families without marriage.  In Sweden the term for such a
>>partner is "sam bo" [sAm bu], meaning "live with."  The term connotes
>>the same thing as "spouse," but without marriage.  Sometimes such
>>partners may raise a family and live together for decades before
>>formally marrying.  All births to such partnerships are out-of-wedlock
>>in a strict sense but not functionally.  One figure quoted in Sweden
>>is that only about ten percent of couples actually marry.
>>
>>Herb
>>
>>On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 2:21 PM, Joel S. Berson<Berson at att.net> wrote:
>>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>  Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>>>  Subject:      Re: OT:  "The westernized world"
>>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>  At 6/11/2009 12:51 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>>>A solicitation I just received asking support to those who seek to
>>>>"provide responsible sex education to teens" contains the following
>>>>passage:
>>>>
>>>>The US has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the westernized world.
>>>>But why? "Abstinence-only" programs censor, mislead and misinform
>>>>teens, creating ignorance and a lack of trust.
>>>
>>>  OT, but although the US *may* have the highest teen pregnancy rate in
>>>  the westernized world, the US does not have the highest rate of
>>>  single mothers in the westernized world.  Some countries with higher
>>>  rates are, if I remember correctly, Iceland, Sweden, Norway.
>>>
>>>  Joel
>>>
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>>>
>>
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>
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