Siegel J M
J Fam Issues. 1995 Mar;16(2):194-211. doi: 10.1177/019251395016002004.
"Between 1982 and 1992, the birthrate doubled among never married college-educated [U.S.] women and almost tripled among never married women who work in a professional or managerial capacity. This research examines why older, single women want to become mothers and how their premotherhood motivation and experience compare to those of married mothers. A snowball sampling technique was used to recruit 51 women who were single when they became mothers and 51 demographically similar married mothers....The composite picture that emerged from the single mothers was one of ambivalence toward marriage--a combination of an idealized image of what marriage should be with an unwilligness to accept compromise as an essential relationship strategy. Older, single women who become mothers are contributing to the trend in American society toward an increasing separation of marriage and childbearing."
1982年至1992年间，在美国从未结婚的受过大学教育的女性中，生育率翻了一番；而在从事专业或管理工作的未婚女性中，生育率几乎增长了两倍。这项研究探讨了年龄较大的单身女性想要成为母亲的原因，以及她们成为母亲之前的动机和经历与已婚母亲相比有何不同。采用滚雪球抽样技术招募了51名成为母亲时为单身的女性和51名在人口统计学特征上与之相似的已婚母亲……单身母亲呈现出的总体情况是对婚姻矛盾的态度——一方面是对理想婚姻形象的憧憬，另一方面又不愿接受妥协作为维持关系的基本策略。成为母亲的大龄单身女性正在推动美国社会婚姻与生育日益分离的趋势。
