Family Planning is Family Values

If you listen to the apocalyptic rhetoric of the religious right you'll find an important theme emerge: The introduction of contraception, which permits people to have sex for fun, is bound up with all of society's ills, from the imagined breakdown of the family to an undocumented surge in crimes against children. It's a cornerstone of right wing thinking. And, no doubt, it's also the reason that not one pro-life group in the U.S. supports the use of contraception even though it's the only proven way to prevent abortion. Sadly, most Americans seem afflicted by some strain of this prejudice. If they credit the pro-choice, birth control movement for anything, it's for the dubious honor of protecting vice. Planned Parenthood has never been tagged as a pro-family values group. A greater oversight has never been made.

The religious right is right in this: Birth control is the source of seismic change. Family planning has led to a transformation of our society so rapid we've only recently had the occasion to take stock. For example, the past century has actually witnessed a steep decline in extramarital affairs as a result, it would seem, of thevery changes that drive the pro-lifers wild: the more lengthy and thoughtful trying-out of marriage partners in combination with greater candor about sexual desires within marriage. Studies conducted in 1948 and 1953, found that 26 percent of women and a whopping 50 percent of men had an extramarital sexual experience. But today in our sex and sin saturated culture the number of married people who have had an extramarital affair has plummeted to 6 percent of women and 10 percent of men, according to (conservative) Ben Wattenberg in his book, The First Measured Century, (other respected sources claim that today's infidelity rate is higher but still half the 1950s rate.) Preaching about faithfulness didn't lead to this family value upgrade. Rather, the uptick in fidelity today is the result of a society that accepts our sexual urges as natural and couples can look within marriage for fulfillment of even desires once branded indecent. (It is also this belief system supports gay marriage and the children that result from it. To us, family is so important we believe everyone has a right to make one.)

Another truth is that when the birth control revolution got underway, women waited to marry and start a family. In 1970, the average age of a new mother was 21 years old. By 2000, the average age was 28. Harvard researchers recently reported that legalization of contraception is directly linked to the spike in the number of women becoming more highly educated and entering the "career" professions. In 1970, five percent of all lawyers and judges were women; today they are six times that. In 1970, one in 10 physicians was female, today it's one in three. Similar patterns are true for women architects, dentists, veterinarians, economists, and women in most of the engineering fields.

Few women today would trade places with the '50s woman and mother, the one fervently idealized by so-called "pro-family" groups. In the fifties, women didn't approach parity with men in education and, guess what, their housework time was constant-despite having new "time-saving" technologies. This era in which birth rates soared doubled the time devoted to child care. And with women assigned to endless tasks of the home, men shouldered the full responsibility of supporting the family economically. One dire consequence was that one in four Americans in the mid-1950s lived in poverty. By the end of the 1950s, one in three American children lived in poverty. Not surprisingly, researchers in the '50s found less than one in three married couples reported being happy or very happy with their relationship. Compare today, when 61 percent of married Americans report themselves to be "very happy" in their marriage. Part of the sour spouse problem of the '50s was that many couples didn't really want to be married to each other. Often, they were trapped into marriage by unintended pregnancy. With no sex-ed, no birth control, no legal abortion -- the exact legislative agenda of today's pro-life movement! -- teen birth rates soared, reaching highs that have not been equaled since: there were twice as many teen mothers in the '50s than
today.

Postponing or planning marriage and children have allowed women to get a foothold in the workforce, And this has led to important benefits: They have made their families wealthier. Today, the rate of poverty is half what it was in the 1950s. In fact, now if a husband is the sole breadwinner the family is four-times more likely to be poor than one in which the wife brings home an income too. Dual income homes earn nearly two-thirds more than that of families in which the husband alone works. Consequently, the percentage of children living in poverty has decreased 50 percent since 1959. Money may not be everything. But it's something.

Today, more husbands count on their wives to bring home a significant share of the family wealth; nearly one in four women now earn more than their husbands. With this, men have options to leave a negative work environment, change careers, take more career risks, and be more involved, indeed better, fathers than ever before. You'd never know this if you listened to the so-called 'pro-family' groups set on convincing us that the way we live now is tearing our country apart. Because of the pro-choice movement's efforts, we now have a true "Family Man," the very one the right wing seems to still be looking for.

Men have as much at stake as women (if not more) with the religious right's intensifying attacks against family planning. A University of Michigan study found that children's time with their fathers increased significantly only in families in which the mother worked outside the home. Fathers today spend much more time with their children than '50s fathers -- a difference of more than one hour each day. And most, by the way, are aware of this difference. Eighty-four percent report that they spend more time with their kids and get more joy out of fatherhood than their fathers did.

So much joy that the vast majority of men, 72 percent, say they would sacrifice pay and job opportunities for more time with their families. Dads today are even more affectionate with their children, 60 percent hug their school-aged kids every day and 79 percent of fathers tell their children they love them several times a week. States James Levine, who heads the Fatherhood Project. "Children whose fathers are involved with them show better education achievement, fewer problems in school, and they're better off socially."

So much for the break-up of the family caused by sexual liberation and pro-choice, pro-birth control movement. Just the opposite is true. The family is more financially secure, and more enjoyed than ever before. And what better family value is there than valuing the family?

For breaking news on threats to birth control access and information visit birthcontrolwatch.org

Comments

[splashy]

Great column. Feminism was about liberating BOTH women and men, not just women. It was about creating more equality, which means that men gained more freedoms too.

Birth control really made a difference, since without parenthood being forced on people far more freedom of choice in all areas of life became possible.

I wouldn't want to go back, that's for sure!

[Garvagh]

Italian women typically have but one child, and they enjoy close family relations.

[Greensleeves]

Somebody should tell the Spears women

[GloriaFeldt]

Excellent post, Cristina! I have often said the birth control saved my life by enabling me to have a life. Women who lived through the pre-pill,pre-reliable birth control age always nod their heads knowingly when I say that. So it is incredibly important for younger women like you to tell the true story of the value of birth control to women and families from your vantage point today.

[Hexalectris]

A very well researched and reasoned article. Problem is, since when do the bible banger and "pro-family" enthusiasts ever pay any attention to evidence. The bible is not exactly filled with evidence, and as in a bumper sticker I saw, "If it ain't in the Bible, it ain't so!" Which should go over well with the millions of well paid and educated women who wouldn't be there if Huckabee, Falwell and the others carrying out God's will have their way.

[desertdweller]

I grew up in a moderately-large eastern city, with a substantial number of devoutly-Catholic, Irish-American families for whom the head of the household was a cop or fireman. Not a stereotype here - just a fact. Judging by the fact that many of these families had six or more children, closely spaced (Ever heard of "Irish twins?"), one could easily conclude that birth control was not in the picture. Not that materialism is the be-all and end-all, but in that regard, these families were poor, despite having a decent income. But they weren't just poor in a material sense. Alcoholism, domestic abuse, and neglect was commonplace. One friend, rarely saw his fireman father, who had to take on side jobs to keep food on the table. I knew of at least two instances where the police-dads were working off-duty as night club bouncers.

Had these families practiced birth control and limited their baby production to two or three, they would likely have not been in the same dire circumstances. But I suppose that's their business, not mine.

[wrabbitt]

We with the news from Hollywood, i guess we can throw out family values, as birth control parameters, I guess this shows our children how role models really work,Huh? I guess its too late for teaching birth control. 16 is a little early and a 19 year old boyfriend makes it illegal anywhere else but, Hollywood. We have already seen how laws don't pertain to Hollywood. Does this come a surprise? No,and if no laws are enforced,that will affirm that Royalty is above the law. To bad the laws of nature don't follow Hollywoods lack of laws.

[amamomofsons]

BY the way Ms. Page.... very smart commentary. Thanks.

[amamomofsons]

In our day girls had to go to New York to seek an abortion. It terrifies me to think that we are taking a step backwards. Girls, this has been an enlightening and amusing blog.

[Aaror]

"So much joy that the vast majority of men, 72 percent, say they would sacrifice pay and job opportunities for more time with their families."
And that is why the Right wants this horrible practice ended! How can you run a corporation with an iron fist and demand 40+ hours of manditory unpaid overtime if your workers are willing to sacrifice advancement in the company for some non-productive family time? We need men to be men again and ignore the productivity draining family.
Women should go back to going from single woman secretary/mistress for the boss to wife to divorced (abandoned) mother. This is the Right's fantasy.

[ShawnC]

While statistics are great, they aren't the sole voice of reality. In some ways, this column only establishes the well-known fact that Americans are crazy over "stuff." Let's have more stuff instead of more kids.
There are a lot of people on the "religious right" who have no problem w/ birth control. I'm not one of them. A famous writer penned a book several decades ago called "The Abolition of Man." Here it is before our very eyes.
Yeah, materialism is much more important than children. How dare we deprive ourselves just to give birth to and raise another child.

[dgrffy]

Actually, no. While contraception isn't the cause of everything from problems in the Middle East to bad televison - it caused a massive change, some good, and some bad. Usually that's how changes happen. Those who try to say any change is without ill-effects are trying to sell something. Of course, looking at it from a 'woman first' view, contraception has been a positive. But the reduction of sex to recreation, and the subsequent problems (AIDS, and check out the return of our friend Syphilis to Europe), the emotional problems and psychological problems (those fundi institutions like Harvard have spoken to this), and others - can all trace their origins to the advent of the "let"s stop those babies" mentality. And I needn"t say that the decline of birthrates in Europe is well known, just ask those Right Wing institutions like the United Nations and European Union. Of course not every problem is traced to condoms or the pill. But enough to at least acknowledge they exist, or what the agenda is of those who refuse to so.

[ljsfolly]

That Bush has forced upon the world, yep the world that they abstain from sex and that is the answer to stds/aids/pregnancy and so on is the biggest "fault". The very idea that he has refused to admit that people will do what they have always done, have sex, even when the odds of aids/stds/babies are high is the very top of his stupid list. So many poor countries that rely on the US and the advanced societies to provide them with condoms at least to help prevent the negatives from happening has been stopped or slowed by bush and his beliefs. The just say no to drugs never worked really and the just say no to sex is right there too.

[factanonverba]

Biology has a theory called the Law of the Extramarital Sex. Humans are by design a mildly polygamous animal. In nature, the ratio of the size of the male to the female determines the sexual mores, if you will, of the species. Here are some examples: male gibbons are identical in size to female gibbons, gibbons form mating pairs for life; male mountain gorillas are roughly twice the size of female mountain gorillas, male mountain gorillas, the so-called silverbacks, have harems of four to eight females; the last example (though I could go on with penguins, clown fish, elephants or lions) are elephant seals where the male outweighs the female by a factor of 4, male elephant seals have harems of dozens of females. The male human is slightly larger the female thus the species is mildly polygamous. Jared Diamond has written perhaps the best synopsis of theory of ESM in his book The Third Chimpanzee.

I work for a non-profit in the education sector. One of the best forms of family planning is the education of women. The more years of schooling a girl has access, the few children she will have. Family planning is indeed family values.

[RickO]

The problem with religious is that they consider sex to be a sin and sin leads to hell, which is a concept concocted by the warped imaginations of the same people who are scared shitless of it and determined to avoid it while deciding that it's okay to send others there if they feel they can make better use of the real-estate the others would leave behind. And for some reason, the Jehovah's witnesses either don't understand the meaning of the red plastic sign I stuck to my front door specifically to ward them off or they simply believe they are not actually "prostheletyzing" when they knock on my door in the middle of Family Guy to tell me the good news about their little fantasy world.