We must, however, go further back than the first desertion for a working
fund of knowledge. The importance of knowing what were the influences
surrounding the man and woman in childhood and youth has already been
dwelt upon and is so generally conceded as to need no elaboration here.
Of especial value also is careful inquiry into the period of courtship,
the circumstances of the marriage, and the history of the earlier
married life. "We should seek to know what first drew them together, as
well as what forced them apart," said a thoughtful district secretary.
The notorious unhappiness of "forced marriages" leads case workers to
scrutinize the relation between the date of marriage and the date of
the birth of the first child. It should be remembered, however, that not
all marriages which are entered into during pregnancy are forced
marriages. Studies of forced marriages, so-called, have not always taken
this fact into consideration.
The superintendent of a state department for aid to widows made a study
of the vital statistics of 500 families chosen at random. She states
that "out of these 500 mothers 96, or 19.2 per cent, had conceived out
of wedlock--or rather before wedlock--judging by the date of marriage
and that of the first child's birth.
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