Promises I can keep: why poor women put motherhood before marriage

Kathryn Edin, Maria Kefalas

University of California Press, 2005 - Social Science - 293 pages

"This is the most important study ever written on motherhood and marriage among low-income urban women. Edin and Kefalas's timely, engaging, and well-written book is a careful ethnographic study that paints an indelible portrait of family life in poor communities and, in the process, provides incredible insights on the explosion of mother-only families within these communities."--William Julius Wilson, author of The Bridge over the Racial Divide

"This book provides the most insightful and comprehensive account I have read of the reasons why many low-income women postpone marriage but don't postpone childbearing. Edin and Kefalas do an excellent job of illuminating the changing meaning of marriage in American society."--Andrew Cherlin, author of Public and Private Families

"Edin and Kefalas provide an original and convincing argument for why low-income women continue to embrace motherhood while postponing and raising the bar on marriage. This book is a must read for students of the family as well as for policy makers and practitioners who hope to rebuild marriage in low-income communities."--Sara McLanahan, author of Growing Up with a Single Parent

"Promises I Can Keep is the best kind of exploration: honest, incisive and ever-so-original. It'll make you squirm, and that's a good thing, especially since Edin and Kefalas try to make sense of the biggest demographic shift in the last half century. This is a must read for anyone interested in the tangled intersection of family and public policy."--Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here

What people are saying

Review: Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage

User Review  - Ben - Goodreads

I read this to get an understanding for the real reasons that poor people have more children, since the commonly repeated stories seemed suspicious. The author's did a great job with their interviews ...

Review: Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage

User Review  - Farida - Goodreads

4.5. best non-fiction book I have read in a long time. a great qualitative study

Contents

• I: 1
• II: 27
• III: 50
• IV: 71
• V: 104
• VI: 138
• VII: 168
• VIII: 187
• IX: 221
• X: 225
• XIII: 241
• XIV: 249
• XV: 269
• XVI: 285

About the author

Kathryn Edin is Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University and coauthor of Making Ends Meet (1997). Maria Kefalas is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. She is the author of Working-Class Heroes (California, 2003).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Promises I can keep: why poor women put motherhood before marriage
• Authors: Kathryn Edin, Maria Kefalas
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University of California Press, 2005
• ISBN: 0520930932, 9780520930933
• Length: 293 pages
• Subjects: History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies); Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General; Social Science / Sociology / General