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TO REDUCE ILLEGITIMACY, PROVIDE BIRTH CONTROL,
BACKED BY ABORTION TO ALL FEMALES REGARDLESS
OF AGE, MARITAL STATUS
Traditional “explanations” for the increase in illegitimacy since
World War 11, such as the “welfare mentality”, sexual
permissiveness, and declines in economic or religious sanctions
against unwed mothers, are not valid according to extensive
studies by MIT-Harvard sociologist Phillips Cutright, Ph.D.
And since these commonly accepted explanations have no basis
in fact, Dr. Cutright asserts, traditionally proposed “solutions”
such as punitive welfare laws and other restrictive measures have,
when tried, failed to solve the problem.
If our society is serious about reducing illegitimacy, he says,
government must take the following steps:
1. Provide birth control services to all females regardless of age
or marital status, and without such ‘tickets of admission’ as
parental consent, ability to pay or previous pregnancy;
2. Make abortion on request legally and universally available
to back up failed contraception or failure to use it effectively;
3. Educate teen-agers to understand the risk of pregnancy
following unprotected coitus, and provide minors with specific
information about where to go to obtain birth control services.
Dr. Cutright’s prescription for the elimination of one of our
most serious social maladies is the result of his cross-nation
analysis, “Illegitimacy: Myths, Causes and Cures,” which appears
in a recent issue of FAMILY PLANNING PERSPECTIVES, the
quarterly magazine published by national Planned Parenthood.
MYTHS EXPLODED
Dr. Cutright examines the traditional explanations for
illegitimacy in more than two dozen industrialized countries over
an 80-year period and finds these explanations without
foundation. Is the breakdown in religious authority and the
secularization of society really responsible, as is so often claimed?
He found that in the U.S., church membership rose from 20
percent in 1880, to 49 percent in 1940, to 64 percent in 1965,
during which time church attendance also rose. “It would be
difficult, therefore, to attribute the rise in illegitimacy rates from
7.1 in 1940 to 23.5 in 1965 to declining religiosity,” he observes,
“since both U.S. church membership and attendance were rising
during that period.” In England and Wales on the other hand
secularization, as demonstrated by rising divorce rates and civil
rather than religious marriage, was accompanied by a decline in
the illegitimacy rate from 18 to six per 1,000 between 1859 and
1939.
Is rising divorce usually accompanied by rising illegitimacy as is
often claimed? The record shows this not to be the case. Dr.
Cutright found that all Western nations with data on illegitimacy
and divorce show, for the years 1900-1940, a pattern of rising
divorce rates accompanied by declining illegitimacy rates, and he
concludes, “Whatever the meaning attached to the two measures,
the>' do not appear to be positively related.”
IS WELFARE RESPONSIBLE?
‘ Is the “welfare state mentality” a cause of illegitimacy? The
middle-class folk answer may be yes, but again the facts show
something quite different. Industrialized countries such as West
Germany and Czechoslovakia, which expended the highest
percentage of their gross national product in 1960 for such
welfare measures as family allowances, social security and
national health insurance, among others, experienced average
illegitimacy rates; countries such as Spain, Japan, Portugal and
the U.S.A., which spent the least for these services, showed
variation in illegitimacy rates from below average in the first two
countries to above average for the last two. Thus, Dr. Cutright
concludes, “The hypothesis that a ‘welfare state mentality’ causes
high illegitimacy rates is not supported by comparisons of
populations at a single point in time.”
Nor is it supported by analysis of trends over long periods of
time, he reports. Between 1900 and 1940 many nations increased
welfare expenditures for unwed mothers and their children. Such
services were virtually unknown in the 19th century, Dr. Cutright
points out. Nevertheless, the illegitimacy rates in every nation for
which data are available were higher in 1900 than they were in
1940. “Inferences from these data,” he writes 5 “should lead one
to question whether it is reasonable to ‘explain’ the 1940-1965
increase in U.S. illegitimacy rates as resulting from welfare
policies which decreased economic sanctions.”
Dr. Cutright’s analysis of the Aid to Families with Dependent
Children (AFDC) program, the major U.S. program distributing
cash to unwed mothers and their dependents, shows that there is
no link between levels or changes in illegitimacy rates resulting
from such welfare policies. Illegitimacy increased at
approximately the same rate in states that pay relatively high
benefits as in those that pay low benefits. And in the same states,
where the same benefits are paid to whites and blacks, the
illegitmacy rates of the two groups differed. At some periods,
black illegitimacy rates increased significantly over white rates. At
other times, however, an increase in benefit levels was accompan
ied by an increase in white illegitimacy rates.
PERMISSIVENESS A CAUSE OF ILLEGITIMACY?
Is the permissiveness of the family and the decline of
authoritarianism responsible for rising illegitimacy, as is often
alleged? The record of four countries - Germany, Great Britain,
the U.S. and Italy - explodes this myth. Italy, with the most
authoritarian parents, as judged by 18-30 year-olds, has the
lowest illegitimacy rate, but the U.S., with the least authoritarian
- or most permissive - parents, has the second lowest illegitimacy
rate.
Examining this question from another vantage point, Dr.
Cutright found that the higher the educational level of the
parents the, greater the permissiveness reported by their children.
Since all developed nations have increased educational levels since
1890, it seems likely that women born in early periods were more
likely than those born in recent years to have been reared under
authoritarian conditions. And yet illegitimacy rates declined in
almost all developed countries between 1890 and 1940, when
permissiveness was replacing authoritarianism.
STATUS OF WOMEN
It has been theorized that as the status of women improved,
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Gregory To Speak At A.C.
Mr. Dick Gregory,
comedian, author, lecturer and
actor, will speak at Augusta
College Tuesday, May 4 at 8
p.m. in the Performing Arts
Theatre as part of the 1970-71
Lyceum Series.
For those without season
subscriptions, tickets will be
sold on a space-available basis
at the box office of the theatre
the evening of the
performance.
Dick Gregory has been
labeled a “man with a message
... a message of freedom and
equality not only for the Negro
but for the entire human race.”
He has spent more time in jails,
marched in more
demonstrations, prevented
more racial violence and
worked harder for the rights of
the Negro than any other
entertainer in America,
according to a spokesman for
the American Program Bureau,
his managing agency. His
autobiography, “Nigger,” has
become a best seller and his
book “Sermons”, is appearing
to be an even bigger success.
His “weapons” include a
complete personal dedication
of his talent and a razor sharp
sense of humor. His “home” is
in five suitcases, a garment bag
and a tape recorder. He lives in
route, stopping to play
countless benefits, deliver
church sermons, lobby in
Washington and speak at
colleges and universities across
the nation, the spokesman
added.
Named as the man most
hated by the Ku Klux Klan he
quipped, “They’re so out of
style, I think they are the only
illegitimacy rates would decline. Unfortunately, this has not been
the case, the sociologist points out. While the data show that
nonworking women in England and Wales had illegitimacy rates
more than 40 percent higher than women of the same class in the
labor force, trends for 16 nations from 1910 to 1940 show little
change in the numbers of women in the labor force, with
illegitimacy rates declining during the period. Similarly, although
paid employment of women in France, West Germany and
Yugoslavia is low, the illegitmacy rates of those countries were
equal to or greater than those in the three nations, Australia, the
U S., and Great Britian, with high levels of employment.
SOME SOLUTIONS
It becomes clear th|n, Dr- Cutright maintains, that solutions to
illegitimacy lie elsewhere than in religious evangelism. Social
punitiveness and economic sanctions against nonmarital sex; all
have been tried, he says, with little or no effect. The experience
of the Scandinavian countries shows that liberalized abortion by
itself, will have little effect on illegitimacy. Experience with sex
education programs in Scandinavia and in the U.S. Army program
aimed at men also suggest that this measure will be ineffective.
However, the experience with abortion on request in eastern
Europe shows that there was a significant decline from 30 to 50
percent in illegitimacy when abortion became readily available for
social reasons. Here there is a clue for American social planners to
follow, Dr. Cutright maintains.
Since studies show that we are a nation of contraceptors,
reliance on abortion alone is unnecessary, the sociologist points
out, as well as unwise. Rather, government subsidy should make
it possible for every female in the nation to obtain medically
supervised birth control services (since the most effective
methods, the pill and the IUD, require medical prescription).
There should be no barriers to this service. At the present time,
for example, never-married-never-pregnant minors generally have
a difficult time obtaining birth control, though not in Georgia; so
do low-income and rural women. So do unmarried women in
general. The latter is due to what Dr. Cutright calls “the
pseudomoral barrier,” which keeps unmarried women from using
contraception, even though they are sexually active. By wida
sponsorship of birth control programs, the government could help
legitimate the use of contraception by all females. Such programs
should be as open as possible, he suggests, with no trace of shame,
guilt'or anything clandestine in their operation. Although those
able to pay for service should do so, public programs should be
equally available to middle-class women because they contribute
substantially to illegitimacy. Programs restricted to the poor fail
to legitimate the service for the rest of the population, and in the
long run, even the poor themselves. Cutright says.
While contraception can prevent unwanted pregnancies,
prevention of illegitimate births will depend, in some part, on the
availability of legal induced abortion on request as a backstop,
Dr. Cutright notes.
To be maximally effective, such a government-sponsored birth
control program must be accompanied by effective educational
programs aimed primarily at clarifying the risks of unprotected
coitus. Since 67 percent of all unwed mothers experiencing a first
birth in 1964 were under 20 years of age, such education must
have teen-agers as a target. The major institution through which
this age group can be reached, Dr. Cutright points out, is the
school. Here is where teen-agers must be taught the risks involved
and, equally important, where to go in the community to protect
themselves.
Although our society may be reluctant to accept it, “the
supposed ill effects of premarital sex on marital adjustments,
marital stability and marital fidelity have never been
documented,” Dr. Cutright concludes, “so long as premarital
sex did not lead to an illicit pregnancy that was carried to term. It
is the control to these unwanted pregnancies -- not the control of
premarital sex -- that is the problem. The former not the latter
can be affected by public and private programs.”
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people in the country who
aren’t using colored sheets.”
In addition to being a leader
in the Negro’s fight for
equality, he is a top star on
television, stage and motion
pictures. He has toured the
continent, became an
international leader, starred on
Broadway and on the major
television shows, and made a
spectacular motion picture
debut in “Sweet Love, Bitter.”
Some quotes from a few
universities where he has
recently spoken:
“Dick Gregory gave an
outstanding performance. The
speech was both interesting
and informative, and was
ended with a standing
ovation.” Eastern Michigan
University.
“This University should
insure that more speakers of
Gregory’s quality are heard on
this campus to make sure that
even those who are here just to
learn how to make a living will
still have to come to grips with
this society, its truths and-its
lies, its good and its evil,”
University of Arizona.
“Dick Gregory is absolutely
great. He literally shook the
rafters here, and the students
loved it,” St. Louis University.
“An overflow crowd
attended Mr. Gregory’s lecture
which proved to be both
humorous and intellectual,”
University of Kentucky.
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News—Review - April 29, 1971
Dr. Pitts Cont’d from Page 1
who attend. If you count the alumni contribution in this area,
they’re very limited. Some of the local alumni are passing out a
survey right now to determine why. What are your thoughts on
this? Why do you think that people are apathetic, if not even
hostile, towards the College and what can be done about this, in
that you mentioned this (alumni) as a financial resource? In order
to tap that resource, you are going to have to have a favorable
attitude from these people. How do you expect to achieve this?
Dr. Pitts: I’ll be meeting this afternoon with Mr. Perry, who is
Director of Alumni. I’ve asked him to gather certain information
for me; I think that you don’t change people’s minds by
browbeating them. I think that you catch flies with sugar. I think
that what we need to do is get the alumni locally really involved
in the College and thus in its support. I frankly think that one of
the reasons that the alumni of Paine College have not been as .
responsive financially is that we as a college havjj not done a good
job as salesmen. And at one point, we have not done a good job
in terms of building the kind of love and good will while the
students were on campus. I could name ten alumni right now in
Augusta that I could walk out of here today, without having
heard me say one word, and pick up a minimum of SIOO to
SI,OOO from them. I am that vain about what I think you can do
with salesmanship.
News-Review: There is another problem about which lam
very much concerned, and that is the admissions policy. I think
that there are a lot of very gifted people who, for some reason, do
not achieve in high school. Their academic credentials would not
allow them to enter college. I believe that at Miles you have a sort
of “open admissions” policy. Would you say a little about that
and would you like to institute this at Paine?
Dr. Pitts: I think that my position on that is obvious by what
we did at Miles College. I believe in an “open-door admissions”
policy. I think that if you find my record at Paine College, my
I.Q. by the tests that they gave me was eighty-three. It’s now
eighty-five. I think that there are many young people who fall
into what you have just said that the tests just are ... The tests
that we use were not designed for Southern White people; so you
know that they were not designed for Blacks. They’re
mid-Western and Eastern coast tests. I think we need to use the
tests but not as a means of determining admission to the College.
It ought to be used as a means of seeing how students stack up
with people across the nation on that particular test. I do believe
in an “open-door” policy. What we have done at Miles College;
we’ve opened the door and say any student who finished high
school and has a GED (General Education Diploma) can come to
Miles College. Our freshman program puts him in three steps: He
takes a CEAP program, or he takes a STEEP program, or he takes
a regular freshman program. If he has been in a CEAP program,
and if after two months we find by his responses that this person
could carry the other load, we move him. We’ve got the basic
skills clinic at Paine College and I think that this kind of thing can
be utilized not just to help those students who have reading
difficulties or language difficulties but to prove that a guy like me
with an I.Q. of eighty-three, and I can now say two, three words
like“anthropomorphic”and “existen” - you know - “existentialism”
(I have a little difficulty), but if I don’t tell the people, they don’t
know that I’m not a really top-flight man .... I think the college,
the Black college, can not evade this. This comes back to my
strong conviction that the Black college has to take the wasted
man-power possibilities in this community and in any community
and prove that... Phyllis Wheatley never would have gotten in
James Weldon Johnson never would have gotten in .... And even
when Dubois got into Harvard and came out with a good record,
they still wouldn’t hire him at Harvard. Now my position is let’s
I give him a chance. And I take the position that we do in the
Academic Skills Clinic at Paine.
Page 5