Kudos to Amy Sullivan on her insightful article in Time magazine voicing concern over recent increases in childbearing among unmarried adults.

Her reference to the Murphy Brown/Dan Quayle controversy helps us remember that while nonmarital childbearing seems to have only recently recaptured the public interest, this issue has been with us for many years—in fact nonmarital childbearing has been increasing almost nonstop for decades now.

The issue of nonmarital childbearing was first raised at the national level back in 1965 with what has come to be known as The Moynihan Report. Back then, nonmarital childbearing occurred predominantly among the African-American Community, with roughly one third of African-American children born to unmarried mothers (compared to less than one in ten children born to unmarried mothers overall). Hence, the Moynihan report focused on the fraying fabric of the African-American family unit and it became mired in controversy for its racist and classist overtones.