The Female School Dropout, Some Aspects of Her Marriage and Family Management

REPORT RESUMES

ED 013 882 VT 000 608 THE FEMALE SCHOOL DROPOUT, SOME ASPECTS OF HER MARRIAGE AND FAMILY MANAGEMENT. BY- PRIOR, FAITH VERMONT UNIV. AND STATE AGRIC. COLL., BURLINGTON REPORT NUMBER' MSC-PUB-44 PUB DATE JUL G4 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.25 HC-$1.72 43P.

DESCRIPTORS - *FEMALES, DRCfOUT RESEARCH, DROPOUT CHARACTERISTIC, DROPOUT PREVENTION, HIGH SCHOOLS, *DROPOUTS, POTENTIAL DROPOUTS, EXTENSION EDUCATION, *HOMEMAKING EDUCATION, MARRIAGE, FAMILY MANAGEMENT, VERMONT,

THIS STUDY ATTEMPTED TO FIND OUT WHAT THE FEMALE DROPOUT NEEDS TO LEARN TO IMPROVE HER EFFECTIVENESS AS WIFE AND MOTHER AND Hod WELL HOMEMAKING FR.:IC-RAMS,IN SCI OL OR OUT, SUPPLY THIS NEED. OF THE 167 GIRLS WHO LEFT SCOL IN BURLINGTON, VERMONT, DURING THE JUNIOR C SENICR YEAR FROM JANUARY 1960 TO JUNE 1963, 20 OF THE 40 WHO MARRIED WERE INTERVIEWED. CUESTIONS COVERED PERSONAL DATA, PRESENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, AND EVALUATION Of EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES. SCWOL RECORDS PROVIDED FACTS ON INTELLIGENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT. THE AVERAGE AGE OF THE WIVES AT MARRIAGE WAS 17.1 YEARS, THAT Cf THE HUSDANDS 19.5 YEARS. FIFTY PERCENT WERE PREMARITALLY PREGNANT. THE MEDIAN GRADE LEVEL ACHIEVED BY BOTH HUSDANDS AND WIVES WAS LESS THAN GRADE. 9. MOST Cf THE COUPLES WERE NOT DOING WELL FINANCIALLY. THE EXTENSION PROGRAM HAD BEEN INEFFECTIVE WITH THIS GROUP. IMPLICATIONS ARE -- (1) THE POTENTIAL DROPOUT CAN F;IE IDENTIFIED AND SHOULD DE PLACED IN A PROGRAM TO FIT HER NEEDS,(2) EXTENSION HOME ECONOMICS PRCGRAMS SHOULD MAKE PROVISIONS FOR THIS GROUP, AND (3) PROFESSIONAL HOME ECONOMICS TRAINING SHOULD PROVIDE UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE LOWER SOCIOECoNOMIC GROUPS. (MS) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE

OFFICE OF EDUCATION

CO THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE CO PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT.POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS trN STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. CD WTHE FEMALE SCHOOL DROPOUT

Some Aspects of Her Marriage and Family Management

Co 0 VERMONT AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT BURLINGTON, VERMONT

Cu) EIM MISC. PUB. 44 JULY 1964 CONTENTS

11,2.

IMPACT CF HOMEMAKIN3 EDUCATION...... 1

METHODOLOGY.esooseoe4tomosess4,eseolleeeeeoesesemo 5

POPULATION STUDIED...... 8

FINDINGS...... 49 17

IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY. . . OOOOOOOOOOO 31

LITERATURE CITED...... 38

ACKNOgLEDGMENTS

The writer is indebted to Dr. J. Anthony Samenf ink of the Home Economics Department for his advice and help during the fieldwork and preparation of this manuscript.

Grateful acknowledgment is also made to Miss Blair Williams, Chairman of the Department of Home Economics; Mrs. Doris Steele, State Home Demonstration Leader; Dean Malcolm Severance; Norbert Charbonneau of the Uni- versity Computing Center; and to the administrative and guidance personnel of the Burlington School Department. THE FEMALESCHOOL DROPOUT

Some Aspects of Her Marriage

and FamilyManagement

FAITH PRIOR

Impact of HomemakingEducation

s a homemaking The present study grows fromthe writer's experience as specialist teacher in junior-seniorhigh schools, and as ahome management Observation of the increasingnumber in the CouperativeExtension Servibe. specula- of girls leaving schoolfor youthful marriagecould only lead to this new tion (based on classroomperformance) that they were entering of wife and mother. phase of life magnificentlyunprepared for the role

Almost as disturbing was the factthat the majority ofthese girls leaving a ripple; other simply disappeared from theschool scene'vithout accomplishments, to girls might come back toschool to tell about their school dropouts was never talk about their goals, but thevast majority of records, heard from again. If it were not for thenotations on her school locker, the teacher and the half-completed sewingproject bundled in her might almost delude herselfthat the student had neverexisted.

In the two years spent as ahome managementspecialist in the Coopera- nissing girls. The tive Extension Service, theauthor has not found these needs of their Extension home economists who aredevoting their days to the clientele in the counties --they do not see them. Colleague- specialists do not work with them innutrition, in clothing.They do not, according to specialists in publicationsand in the mass media,send for bulletins, or children comment on radio andtelevision programs.They do not bring their school.Where (and surely there arechildren) to the University nursery persistent questions when one they are and haw they aredoing become rather the rAal needs ofpeopae. hopes to plan andimplement a program which meets In the state The problem of the schooldropout is not a fictional one. in 1958-59, only3,315 of Vermont, of the4,810 ninth graders in school 68.9. (22)Nor were graduatedfrom high school in1962 -- a percentage of leaving school at the do these figures take intoaccount the large number 8. first legal moment -- theattainment of age16 or the completion of grade high school marry. In A significant numberof those who do not finish in their teens has the years 1958 through1962, the percentage of brides dropped lower than 49.8 percent. risen as high as52.2 percent and has not 15.4 percent to 18.6 percent for The same years show asteady increase from grooms not yet20. (28)

Partial Fulfillment 1/ Fart of a Thesis Submitted tothe Graduate College in ofthe Requirements for theDegree of Master of Science. But how successfully, the conscientious home economics educator is bound to ask, are theseyoung brides functioning as. wives and mothers, and to what extent have in- school homemaking experiences and out-of-school Extension, programs contributed to their success?

What We Already Know

The two decades following World War II haveseen investigation in the social sciences increasingly focusedon youthfully marrying partners, and on the law-income family in an acknowledgedly affluent society.

Sociologists indicate that it ismore than "low income" which sets certain families apart in a discernible pattern of stratification.

Warner, in his introductionto Social Class in America, says:

All of Is are trained to know and to cherish the ideals of democracy and to believe in the American dream which teaches most Americans that equal opportunity is here for al.'. and that the chances for success for anyone lie mithinhimse12...But we only learn by hard experience...that some of the things we learned early in life exist only in our political ideals and are rarely found in the real world. Wenever learn these things in school, andno teacher teaches us the hard .facts of our social class systeme(31)

Yet social class, it wouldappear, is an important determinant of personality development and isa factor in the kinds of skills,. abilities, and intelligence an individualuses to solve his problems.Therefore, if a pattern of stratification can be established for any group, this should represent a large step toward identification of the kinds of help he may be willing to accept in the interest of meeting his problems.

Hollingshead suggests that when social phenomenaare to be viewed behaviorally, it is meaningful to break the social hierarchy into distinct social strata rather than to treat it as a continuum.

This definition of class position is based on three assump- tions: first, a family's mode of living is mirrored in its home; second, the occupation of the head reflects the skill and power associated with maintenance functions in the society; and third, the amount of formal education the head has received reflects the tastes of the family. The combination of these factors enables a researcher to determine within ap- proximate limits the position the family occupies in the status structure.se(14)

An analysis of stratification indexes shows that they allmeasure the same underlying dimensions, (17) - 3 -

Ir astigators of the characteristicsof partners in youthfulmarriages of bride found a "clear, direct relatiorwhipbetween status levels and ages and groom at marriage"(6) and that "measurement ofsocioeconomic back- that ground such as father's occupation and parenteducation levels showed married girls have lower socioeconomiclevels than a norm group."(3)

A study of the relationship ofpersonality to early marriageshowed that there are two types ofmarriage-oriented girls who emergefrom a preadolescent group: the type who is emotionallyinsecure and thus feels pro- pelled toward a relationship which holds outthe promise of beinghappier to ma- than is her present unhappy environment,and the type who is early ture and whose aspiration levels forherself as an individual andfor herself in marriage are relatively low.(23) Another study support:. the hypo- thesis that persons who marrydemonstrate greater feelingsof ego deficiency than do pers:ms who remain single. "It may be," it is suggested, "that it is the immature or not sowell adjusted person forwhom marriage has its strongest appeal."(21)

In line with the findings concerninginternal adjustment is the con- clusion by Moss and Gingles(23) that girls who marry early haveless satisfactory relationships with theirparents.They show earlier patterns of dating and going steady. Their orientation is towardmarriage as the basic goal of their lives, andthey expect nothing from lifeexcept the opportunity to follow thetraditional roles of wife and mother. Thirty- one percentof the girls in the Moss andGingles study were pregnant/when they were married.

Repeatedly appearing in studies ofthe characteristics of youthfully marrying girls are the factorsof low intelligence(13), poor scholastic achievement, irregular attendance,low achievement scores, narrow rangeof subject choices(11); behavior problems, lack of leadership,and passive maladjustment in the schoolsituation. (13)There is little aspiration for more education(23), and few return after dropping outof school. (5)

In the studies of the livingpatterns of youthful marriages$Insel- berg (16) and Burchinal(4) found a lesser degree of stabilityand satisfaction, and a greater feelingof having been unready for marriage, particularly when premarital pregnancy was afactor.Research also shows that family income is low for theyouthfully marrying couple, but thatfew wives are employedoutside the home. A significantamount of aid is received from relatives and, ingeneral, they are less able tomaintain themselves than the average couple.As relationships improve withtheir own parents, wives tend to developconflicts with their in-laws, butthey do not lack friends among their peers.(16) There is a high percentage of unemployment and, in theface of a national technology,which decreases daily the number of jobs open tothe unschooled and unskilled, theprospect of employment is not bright.(2)

Lee Rainwater has contributedenormously to the knowledge of working class wives and mothers: one studyexamines the values and motivations of the wives of blue-collarworkers (214) (a socioeconomic levelsomewhat above that which one mighthypothesize for the youthfullymarrying school dropout); a second study invaatigates attitudes towardsex, contraception, and family planningin the lower socioeconomic classes. (25)

But nowhere does theliterature yield an examinationof hoi much homemaking has actually been studied by girls who dropout of school to marry, or how well they have retained and now evaluate specificsubject areas taught in homemaking classes, in terms of theinformation and skills they have found necessary in their married role.Such work as has been done in surveying Extensionprograms has been based almost entirelyon practices of the farm family, and on families havinga socioeconomic level considerably higher than that of the average youthfullymarrying school dropout. Many studies include asa final recommendation the plea formore in- tensive work with homemakers in lower socioeconomicand educational levels. Chinniah (7), for example, found thatmothers of law educationwere least likely to teach their children thatnonmonetary resources maybe substi- tuted for money, and that prioritiesmust be given to wants tension workers 11.0.. Ex- and others interestedin family and children's welfare should concentrate en lower educational groups," sheconcludes. Stin- son (29), in summary, says much thesame, "Those fantlies of lower ic status econom- are more in nssd ofeducational assistance in utilizing to close this resources gap between level and standardof consumption thanare those of highereconomic status."

The observation that traditional methodsfor out-of-school education are not geared to the social characteristicsof the youthfully marrying school dropout is reinforced by Abelland Larson (1) who found thata low rate of adoption of recommendedhomemaking practices is associated with young age, law income,and lam level of participation tions. informal organiza- Rust (26) showedthat the largest proportionof women attending adult homemaking classes were high schoolgraduates, 26 to 45 years old, with smallfamilies.

Gardner, in his introduction tolliforkinean's1Nife, (24)charges a lack of understanding by middle-classpeople who "are usually the creative people and the decision makers,"a lack which is reflected in the ineffective media judgments which they make inan effort to reach lower class people.

It would seem apparent that whileconsiderable knowledge exists about the potential school dropout, andabout the characteristics of members of the lower socioeconomic strata,not a great deal ofuse has been made of the information in evaluating home economicsprograms for content and method in terms of the real life situations of schooldropouts who have established living patternsin their marriages.

The present concern, then, representsa pilot study-- an attempt to begin to find answers to the questions: "What does the youthfullymarrying female school dropout need to learn to improveher effectiveness in the roles of wife and mother?"and "How well is homeeconomics, either in school or out, teachingher ?" -5-

METHODOLOGY

The problem, then, is threefold:

1. To indicate somecommon socioeconomic characteristics (if such exist) which might increasethe understandings of educators working with girls who, in school, tend toward the profile ofthe potential school dropout, or educators who work with theyoung homemaker who has already dropped out of school.

2. To evaluate the utility of in-school homemakingexperiences from the young homemaker's point of view,and to similarly evaluate her experience with and knowledge of the Extensionhome economics program.

3. To determine whetherareas exist in which these young homemakers recognize lack of knowledge and experience (andin which they might therefore be expected to be most readily receptiveto help).

For the purposes of this study, fourhypotheses have been established:

1. The young homemaker with less than high schooleducation does not fit a predictable social and personalitypattern.

2. Less than high school education is not associated with low socioeconomic status in marriage.

3. The young homemaker with less than high school education does not recognize inadequate preparation for her role throughin-school homemaking experiences.

4. The young homemaker with less than high school educationis not oriented to traditional methods of Extension home economicsprograms.

SECURING THE POPULATION FOR THE STUDY

The study was based on female dropouts from the publicschool system of Burlington, Vermont, a city of 39,000; in thesystem there are two junior high schools made up of grades 7 through 9, andone senior high school of grades 10 through 12.

An original list of girls who left either junioror senior high school during the period January 1, 1960, through June 1963, without completion of grade 12 was compiled from school records.(Until the schoolyear 1962-63, reason for withdrawalwas not a required entry on the permanent record. Therefore the original list may well includea certain number of girls who transferred to a parochial system,or whose family moved from the area.) There were 167 names on the originallist.

When these 167 names were checked againstthe city clerk's marriage records for the period January 1,1960,to September 1, 1963, it was found that 40 girls (24 percent) had married in thiscity.

An attempt was made to locate each ofthese 40 girls, using thecity directbry, tax records, telephone or personal calls toparents of both bride and groom, or a letter and return card sentto the last-known address with a forwarding request.Attempts to locate the girls gave theseresults:

Unable to make any contact 13 Moved out of state 6 Refused interview 1 Nearby town; interview obtained 4 Study town; interview obtained 16

The group of 20 girls with whom contact couldbe established was taken as the statistical population.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE RESEARCH SCHEDULE

The personal interview was selected as the mostappropriate method, since --

1. A low verbal ability, with need forfrequent interpretation, was assumed.

2. A lack of interest in completing andreturning a mailed ques- tionnaire was assumed.

3. It WAS assumed that the subject would be morewilling to answer personal questions verbally than to coA....dt themto writing.

4. It was assumed that the subject would be morewilling to spend the necessary time to complete the interviewin a face-to-face situation.

5. A personal interview would permit observation of thesubject's home and neighborhood, and some functioningof the subject within that environment.

The interview schedule was partlystructured (both questions and possible responses predetermined) for ease inadministration and because of assumed nonverbal characteristic of the group;and it was partly open- end (questions raised without providing orsuggesting any structure for reply).

Questions included in the schedule wererepresentative of items indicated as pertinent in a review of theliterature; they were discussed with the chairman of the home economicsdepartment and with the state leader for the Extension home economics program. subject; when it waslater The research schedule waspretested with one the same responses weremade. The instru- given a second time, essentially it ment was therefore assumed tobe reliable in respectto the responses elicited.

The question schedule is infour parts: work, income, 1. Personal. Data covers the factsof age, children, church, and other grouprelationships. inwhich 2. Present Management Practicesattempts touncover ways about the familyls the family handles money,and the wifels attitudes spending pattern. 3.Personal Relationships providesinformationon thecourtship the &I've of adjust- period, the environment of bothparental homes, and ment inher ownmarriage as evaluated bythe wife. (19) was included The Locke - Wallace ShortMarital Adjustment Test with the permission of theauthors.

Experiences attempts touncover atti- it. Evaluation of Educational. toward homemaking classeAperiences, to determine tudes toward school and in what the wife recalls studyingin homemaking and howshe evaluates this education, and her terms of her present role, herreaction to out-of-school awareness ofthe ExtensionService and its methods. An of thequestionswere asked andreplies recorded by theinvestiga- tor, with the exception ofthe Locke -Wallace Test. (In that test, numbers 1, 7, and 8 required explanationrather consistently.)

ADMINISTRATION OF THE SCHEDULE

In each case an original call wasmade during themorning. At this project was explained as a"study of how much yourhomemaking time the study was confi- classes have helped you."Assurance was given that the be harmed. A time dential and that the interestsof the family would not convenient. was arrangedwhen conditions for theinterview would be most p.m.; all In nearly every caseinterviewing was done between1 andIL interviews were heldduring a three-aseek periodin midwinter, for the sake family living.About one of consistency inconditions that might affect hour was requiredfor each interview andthe attendant amenities.

At the time of theinterview a subjectivenotation was made regarding quality of housing andneighborhood, for the purposeof calculating social stratification.Details of the criteria appearin the Appendix.

Items of intelligenceand achievement were takenfrom school records; The period between marriage marriagedata camefrom thecity clerk's files. and birth of the first child could thus be computedwithout direct ques- tioning, an apparentlyunnecessary delicacy on the part of the investigator, as each subject pointed out that she hadbeen premaritally pregnant, if such were thecase.

By far the greatest timewas expended in actually locating the subjects. In many casesan address obtained from a reliable source onlya short time before wouldprove to be an empty apartment with a For Rent sign in the window,or occupied by persons who could not or would not giveany sucaestionwhere the previous tenantsmight rumba. In one case the subject of an interviewwas, when eventually tracked down, found to be living in the apartment wherea previous subject had been interviewed two weeks before.

Almost as much backtrackingwas done to reach persons who were not at home, or who (on particularlyfrigid mornings) were not yetup. Only four of the subjects hadtelephones, so all callswere made in person.

A. briefcase history of each familywas compiled immediately following the interview.

METHOD OF STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

To show statisticalrelationships, a test of significancebetween the means was used. The sample was divided into twocategories on the basis of Marriage Adjustment Scores-- 99 or less, and 100 or more. The significance of differencebetween the means was testod for each offour variables: difference in I.Q. of husbandand wife, difference in grade achievement of husband and wife,premarital pregnancy, age of wife at marriage.The t-test was selectedbecause of the small number ofcases in the study-- 18 degrees of freedom.Significance was based on reference to Fisher's tables of t-values. (9)

POPULATION STUDIED

The Subculture

Throughout the study it becameincreasingly apparent that the study group represented, with only two exceptions,a persistent utibculture in the community: the youthfullymarrying school dropoutwas not leaving school because she did not conformto the norm, but for thevery reason that she did. Within her socioeconomicstratum, a general devaluation ofeducation exists. Her departure from school reflects,in large part, the valuesys- tem of the home and neighborhood.

There is, in general, continuityfrom one generation to another. Parents, when contacted, knewwhere their childrenwere and how they were doing. Parents were, in fact, providinga good deal of support in both tangible and intangible forms. real concern atearly In moat cases theyexpressed no disapproval or in fact, termination of school orearly marriage. Many school records, leaving of contained notes fromparents -- somepredating the actual in some cases evenurging, school by several months giving permission, that their daughtershould drop out ofschool.

This is quite within thevalue system.

The pertinacity of theproblem of law education-lowsocioeconomic to bleak out of the level is more understandable asit becomes clear that culture pattern means the rejectionof the value systemof the originating educators) rejection of rather than (as so often appearsto professional the school and theopportunity forself-betterment.

Characteristics of the Res nde.entle

Age

The ages of wives atmarriage ranged from15 years 6 months to 18 years The ages of husbands 3 months, with the mean ageat marriage 17.1 years. 24.0 years, with a mean of19.5 years. at marriage rangedfrom 17.0 years to

TABLE 1

DISTRIBUTION OF HUSBANDS ANDWIVES BY AGE AT MARRIAGE

Number of Husbands A e Number of Wives 0 15-16 1 0 16-17 6 17 - 18 8 3 18 -19 5 5 19 -20 0 5 20 - 21 0 3 1 21 - 22 0 1 22 - 23 0 2 23 - 24 0

V tsusswir,

It is obvious that we aredealing here with the truly"youthful," the is 3.2 years below the real "teen -age" marriage. The average age of wives national average age of womenat marriage(20.3 years). (30)

Pregnancy

Fifty percent of the wives inthe study group werepremaritally preg- figure of 20 percent in the nant, as compared withthe generally accepted -10- overall population (8)

TABLE 2

DISTRIBUTION ar COUPLES BYMONTHSBETWEEN MARRIAGE AND BIRTH arFIRST CHILD

Months Coudes.

9 1 0 to 3 3 6, 5 3 ,7 3 8s 9 0 10, 11 2 12 to 18 19 to 24 1

For premaritallypregnant wives,the meannumber of months between marriage and birth was4.0; if the case in whichmarriage followed birth by 9 months is included,the meandrops to 3.1 months.

For wives not pregnant atmarriage, the mean!lumber of months to birth of first child was14.1. The mean age at marriage ofwives in thepregnanCy-provoked marriages was 16,55years, more than a yearless thanthe mean age*of wives not pre- maritany pregnant(17.6).The meanage of husbandsIn pregnancy-provoked marriages was 19.2; husbandsof wives notpremaritally, pregnanthad a mean age of20.7 -- a difference ofnearly a year and a half. The meanage of all wivesin the group at the birthof their first child was 17.6,of husbands 20.4.(Two marriages in which therehad been no pregnancy,andone in which therehad been amiscarriage, wereexcluded.) The average number ofpregnancies percouple (excluding the twowho if all marriages were hadnever beenpregnant) was 2.1; the average was 1,9 included. There had been a total of38pregnancies.

TABLE 3

DISTRIBUTION OF COUPLES BY NUMBER OF PREGNANCIES

Pregnancies Couples, 0 2 1 5 2 7 3 5 4 1 11-

Health

Health problems listed by wivesfor themselves included onemis- carriage, one general toxemia of pregnancywith renal involvement, men- strual irregularity following pelvicinjury in auto accident,vaginal infection following delivery.One wife had very poor anduncorrected vision.

A large proportion of thewives obviously needed dental care,but this was not mentioned as ahealth problem by a:iy.

Among the children, one infant was extremelypremature, one had been (at the age of one month) hospitalized for fourweeks for dysentery caused by poor sanitation, and one neededcorrection of a congenital eyedefect.

Prenatal care had varied from six months to none,the latter case having no predelivery examination.The observation of Siegel(27) that prenatal care is a high priority need ofteen-age mothers wasborne out.

Hollingshead points out that people in lowsocioeconomic strata have less knowledge of illness and where tofind help. (14) Rainwater indicates that doctors and nurses often find itdifficult to understand why these people do not exhibit the same sophisticationtoward medical care that middle-class people show.(24) Several wives expressed negative attitudestoward clinics for either themselves or theirbabies, saying, "You h..veto waitall day"; "The doctors and nurses just stand aroundanddrink coffee andtalk toeach other and let you wait."One wife expressed great animositytoward the public health nurse who visits the home once aweek.She boastedthat, "Some day I'm going to tell that snoop to keep outof my house."

Formal Education

The mean grade level achieved was9.25 by wives, 9.40 by husbands. However, the median for both husbandsand wives was less than completion of grade 9.Distribution of grade completion is shownin Table 14. TABIE 4

DISTRIBUTION OF HUSBANDS AND WIVES BY GRADE IEVEL COMPLETED

Grade Wives Husbands

14 0 1 7 0 1 8 It 5 9 8 5 10 7 2 11 1 1 12 0 14 1 yr. college 0 1

By theiratm evaluation, reasons for leaving schoolwere:

TABLE5

DISTRIBUTION OF REASONS CI= FOR LEAVING SCHOOL

Reason Number

Pregnant 8 Didn't like school 7 To get married 3 Not doing well 1 Already marrieds became pregnant 1

A review of grades received and records ofconferences with teachers and guidance personnel indicatesthat, in general, "didn't like school" and "not doing well" could also be appliedto cases in which "to get married" or "pregnancy" was given as the primaryreason. The highest academic record inthe group belonged to the girl who married, planningto complete high school, and then becamepregnant.

The pattern of generally low to low-normal intelligencewas frequently associated with repetition ofone or more school grades.Academic per- formance was low, with generallypoormotivation, irregular attendance, low achievement scores, and littleor no intellectual curiosity.Guidance records cite short attentionspan, problems in reading and comprehension, behaviordifficulties. There was littleor noparticipation in co-curricu- laractivities, noleadership ineither classroomorextra-class situations. Maladjustment to the school situation manifesteditself in either passivi- ty or antisocialbehavior. 13 -

All of these observations are in keeping with those ofBurchinal, Inselberg, Havighurst, Garner and Perry, Moss and singles in theworks previously cited.

During the interviews, in response to the question "If you hadnot married young, what do you think you might have done?" more thanhalf could make no definite reply, answering, "I don't know," "Nothing,I guess," "I only wanted to get married." Two said they would have liked to be hairdressers, three said secretaries(although only one of these had been following a commercial course). Two spoke of owning horses and one (with an I.Q. of 83) said she had planned, until becoming pregnant at the are of 15, to be "a lady doctor."

But for most there was no real belief that their future wouldhold anything except marriage. A career in the sense of education for work,and gainful employment outside the home, was not a part of the culturalpat- tern. As Rainwater says, "These women have always known thattheir reason for existence is to be wives and mothers...."(24)

The critical years for leaving school appear to be grades 8 through 10, during which the potential school dropout becomes legally eligibleto leave school, either by attaining age 16, or by completing grade8. Any subject matter considered essential for the student who will marry young, and terminate formal education, will most likely never reach her if it is deferred beyond grade 9.

Thocie who are concerned with education for family living do not, in the short period in which such a student is within their reach, have muchtime.

Intelligence

There was an extremely wide range in intelligence among the young men and women in the group studied -- from a low of75 (Stanford-Binet or equivalent) to a high of 120 among the wives, and from 55 to 115 among the husbands. (In the four cases in which intelligence scores for husbands were not available, estimates were madebased on grade attainment, type of employment, and comments of teachers and guidance personnel.)

The mean I.Q. among wives was 91.5. The mean I.Q. among husbands was 91.1. If the extremely low score of 55 for one husband was disregarded, the mean score for husbands rose to 94.6.Alignment of husband-wife scores is shown in Table 9.

Socioeconomic Status

The Hollingshead criteria (14) classify families in five categories, ranging from a high of Class I to a law of Class V. In the present study, socioeconomic classification under the Hollingshead criteria places nine couples in Class V, eight couples in Class IV, and three couples in Class .../...0011.101.1011

III. Of theeleven couples above Class V, eight wiveshad married husbands two full years or more older than themselves; ofthenine wives in Class V, six had married husbands less than two years older.

Without exception,marriages in which wives had attained gradelevel equal to or higher than theirtaisbands1fell in Class V.There were no Class V rankings among couples in which thehusband's grade level surpassed, by even one year, his wife's.

It is difficult to visualize much upvard mobility,(judgment of class position beingbasedon education, occupation,and quality of housing), for the family who,., head islimited in education and shows little aspiration for more,whose job opportunities are limitedor nonexistent, andwhose housing is determined by a generallymarginal income.

Religion

In 114 of the 20marriages,both husband and wife were at leastnominal Catholics; among these couples, in 11 Marriages neither husband norwife attended church with arm regularity. In the three remaining, the wife attended church regularly, but only one husband did so.

There was only one couple in the study group in which both husbandand wife were Protestant.This couple was most active of any inparticipation in church services and church-related activities.The husband attended a small midwesternevangelical college for one year, and iscontinuingto read with their pastor to prepare himself to be a "preacher."

Five marriages were interfaith; in these two wives, but no husbands, attend churchregularly.

It would appear that the level of religiosity is very low in the study group, and that churchorientationwould be a most unrealisticpeg on which to hang a program for young homemakers.

Memberships andActivities

Only one couple (both husband and wife Protestant)reportany church- affiliated activity other thanSunday service.

Among the 20 husbands, only four belong to any organization whatsoever: one to a Rod and Gun Club, one to theEagles Club, oneto the American Legion,and one attends National Guard drills. No wife is a member of any organization whatsoever. In response to the question on social activities, dancing and visiting relatives were each mentioned six times, movies and bowling three times each, and one notation each for cards, bingo, roller skating, havingcom- pany in, stock car races, and church groups. Most of the social activities reported involved husband and wife as a couple, with the exception ofone wife who reported going regularly to Legion Club dances with her mother. Rainwater explores the subject of nonmembership atsome length. (24)

Spare-Time Activities

"Visiting with friends" was much the most popular response to theques- tion "What do you most enjoy doing in your spare time?"The 20 replies were distributed as follows: visiting with friends 10, visiting with relatives 3, cooking special foods 3, shopping 2, playing with children 2.

There is almost complete absence of any participation,as couples, in any organizational activity in the community; no wife expressed any feeling of deprivation in not belonging to organizations,or any hope or expecta- tion of membership when money might be available,or when the children would be older.For the mives, organizations did not seem to exist in their normative world.The social or service organization does not, then, offer a starting point for reaching out-of-school homemakers.

By their own evaluation, eight wives read little, six reada fair amount, and six a good deal.As to purpose, twelve said that they read for pleasure only, four for information as well, and four could not specify.

Of the four who said they read toa degree for information, all were able to mention by name several women's magazines which theysaw from time to time, although none were observed in their homes. A dailypaper is seen by more than half the wives, but only five subscribe to it themselves* Other information sources mentioned were "Dr. Spook" and cookbooks.

In two cases, the investigator was shown a few dog-eared ditto sheets of recipes kept from junior high school homemaking classes; accompanying remarks were: "This is my cookbook," and "I know how to do these and a cookbook would be harder*"

In three houses books were in evidence; in every case theywere almost entirely sets of stories (mystery, career girl, or horse stories) written expressly for the young adolescent or preadolescent girl. In one home a few of the husband's high school textbooks were jumbled inamong them; but for the most part, homes appeared to be devoid of reading matter.

Television viewing habits stretched along a continuum from the wife who said she never watches television (they do not owna set) to the wife who said that the first thing she does in the morning is to turnon the TV, and the last thing she does at night is to turn it off.Television was not mentioned spontaneously in any case as a source of information. Whenques- tioned further, those who did think it might be possible to find "a little" information on TV mentioned two foods programs (one, commercial foods -16-

Extension program)and demonstrations and one, anirregularly scheduled commercials in general, as sources.

kind of TV program,eight mentionedcomedies, As to their favorite two hillbilly seven daytimeserials, five Westerns,three variety shows, music, and one each warstories and quiz shows. V differ from the (Hollingshead points out that"Class I and Class participating.as much in exposuresto the mass others primarily in not emphasis on media. Class It, and to someextent Class III,put greater Class IV.") (14) magazines and radio thanTV.TV tends to dominate

Dating

ranging from 11 to16; the The 20 wives reported ageat first date as little over 13 years,with 13.2 mean age atwhich dating was begun was a marriages and13.6 for the re- the mean age for thosein pregnancy - provoked to be the productof the maining 10. Earlyheterosexuality did not appear middle-class families,but "social little league"sometimes fostered by rather normative withinthe value system.

Parents

there were fourdivorces, two deaths among Among parental families, wives' husbands' parents; there werefour divorces andfour deaths among parents married parents. In two of the marriages,daughters of-divorced marriage of mothersof girls who sons of divorcedparents. The mean age at premaritally was 18,3; the meanage of mothersof girls not were pregnant between 21.2. The difference in ageat marriage premaritally pregnant was social trend of a mothers and daughtersbears out thegenerally observed lowering of the average ageat marriage. potential early-marrying These observations make upthe profile of the number of permanentschool school dropout. Notations on a significant by both teachersand records indicate that she canbe, and is, recognized considerable accuracy. guidance personnel ratherearly and with

less surety that,having beenidentified, she There is considerably This offerings adapted toher abilities andneeds. will find educational The of home economics asin any otherclasses. is as true in the area continie to have subject matter and themethods by which itis taught indicated for the waythe middle-class orientations.with little regard in her soon-to-be-assumed student actual4 lives, orthe problems inherent role of wife andmother. -17-

FINDIMS

Pres2 nt Managementractices

As families, most of these youthfullymarrying couples are not doing very well financially.Unemployment is high (frequentlyuncompensated because of conditions of previousempaoyment) and income among thosewho have jobs is low.

TABLE 6

DISTRIBUTION OF HUSBANDS BY CURRENT EARNINGS

Income Number

$o 4 $28 2 $45 1 $60.65 3 $66-75 3 $76-85 3 $86-95 2 $100 No response 1

The mean income of the14 employed husbands was $71.57 per week, with a range of$45 to $100. The two husbands "earning" $28 each werereceiving unemployment compensation.One wife reported that she had noidea how much her husband earned, andhad never known. The mean income for the entire 20 families was$50.37 per week.

The latter figureincludes the earnings of the one wife who is regularly employed outsidethe home; she earns about $45 a week as awaitress; her husband is unemployed and ofsuch law mentality as to make any future employment doubtful.

One other wife waits on tablefor special parties at a men's club about once a month,and one wife does part-time work mountingcolor slides in her home, but their contributionto the family income is negligible.

It is foreign to the patternfor the wife to work outside the home. She is busy with infants, andhas little education or training to offer in the labor market. -18-

In terms of presentoccupation, or that cited as "usual" in thecase of unemployed husbands,employment was on the following levelsas indicated on the Hollingshead scales (14)

TABLE 7

DISTRIBUTION OF HUSBANDS BY OCCUPATION CLASS

Class Number

7 6 6 2 5 7 4 3 3 2

Eleven wives consideredtheir present income adequate.Of the eight wives who considered theirpresent income less than adequate, six hadun- employed husbands and twohad husbands who had.previouslybeld better jobs that paid $25 to $35more per week than they were now earning.One wife, who did not know her husband'ssalary and handled no money,was unable to say whether present incomewas adequate or not.

If it were not for considerablehelp from parents, several of theyoung families would be economicallysubmerged; as it is theycarry a good deal of debt, a significentportion of which is for cash borrowed fromsmall-loan companies.

Assets and Liabilities

In regard to assetsnow, compared, with assets at the time of marriage, 16 wives felt thatassets had increased; four felt that theyhad decreased. As to ddbts, 16 also saidthat they were now greater, whilefour stated that they were less.

Among the 20 familieswere listed:

20 open installment accounts 19 open charge accounts 8 current cash loans (finance companies).

Of the 20 wives, 18 stated thatthe availability of credit not not affect their buying. -19-

of items on thechecklistappeared As to tangibleassets, possession in the followingorder and frequency:

Transistor radio 20 17 Television Record player 14 14 Camera Mixer 13 11 Car Hair dryer 11 Washer (nonautomatic) 10 Electric or gas range 10 Automatic washer 14 Telephone 4 Sewing machine 4 Movie camera 2 Blender 1 Dryer 0 replies were as When asked the nextitem they wouldlike to buy, follows:

Automatic washer 4 House Youth bed 2 2 Refrigerator-freezer All new furniture 1 Bedroom set 1 Washer (any kind) 1 1 Dryer Hair dryer 1 Stereo TV 1 Personal TV 1 Color TV 1 are largely actual purchasesearly in these marriages It appears that the wife derives items from which thehusband as well as centered about representative of thewife's own satisfaction; "nextpurchase" is more better functionalequipment for the wishes, and centersabout more and surprising in viewof the fact thatthe home marks, home. This is scarcely wife's world. AsRainwater degree, the boundariesof the young to a large she feels are inher daily occupation points out, thesatisfactions which as wifeand mother.(24) facing a real andoften stark ex- One way in whichthe young wife, its less pleasantaspects, is by istence, tries toalleviate some of flowers, bric-a-bracelaborately "prettying up" herhome. Artificial to deny herproblems. So too do a veneer-inlaid bedroomsets all help and the new personalstatus symbol- - cabinet television, arecord player, good deal aboutdebt, but the need to ac- the hair dryer. She worries a of which deny herproblems and offervisible assurance quire possessions solvent. (24) security is greaterthan the need tobe financially -20-

Nearly all of the debt carried by the families in the study represents furniture and appliances for the home (with the exception of cash loans which were mainly for hospital bills). Without exception, the next item they hoped to buy was more of the same.There was na mention of any anti- cipated expenditure for education or personal improv3ment.

Two families interviewed said that they had no current debtr ,hatev3r for furniture. One managed deliberately by using secondhand pieces "until the children are big enough not to ruin everything," while the other couple (without children) had boughtnew furniture for their entire apartment with the windfall of an insurance settlement for an automobile accident just before their wedding.

Nine families had savings accounts-- seven containing lessthan $100, two with $100 ormore. Eleven families had no savings whatsoever.

Four families carriedno insurance of any kind, one had a hospitiliza- tion policy only. In three families the husband's life was insured (with policies of $1,000, $2,000, and $10,000 respectively). In 12 families, all members of the family had life insurance, including the youngest infant in the family; in five of these neither the type of policynor face value was known by the wife. In two of these families, the birth of at least one child had been paid for bya city welfare agency, but new-parenthood had ap- parently been unable to withstand salesmanship based.on. sentiment.' In the family in which furniture had been paid for by windfall, neither husband nor wife has either lifeor health insurance in any form, although the husband is employed at what the wife calls "a comfortable wage."She said that the first kind of insurance they hope to buy is fire insuranceon their furniture.

Management of Money

Within the 20 households, lit wives handle all the money, with husbands turning over their payas received. In three homes the husband handles all the money, and in three themoney is divided. In two of the latter there is no apparent agreementon areas of responsibility.Rainwater suggests that, in general, wivesseem to feel that "earning the money is the husband's responsibility; spending it wisely is the roman's duty." (24)

Even in those cases where financial control is not unilateral, there seems to be little joint decision-making.One wife, who has no part in handling the family money, characterizeda friend's marriage thus: "She's got it made.Her husband gives her charge accounts all over town."

But in general, wives appear to take a good deal of pride in spreading the money thinly enough to accomplish a good share of what they expect of it. Eleven wives keep records of expenditures in the form of,bills and receipts only; three keep a notebook with more or less regularity; one uses a checkbook only; five keep no records whatsoever. Two families (the same two which have savings accounts of $100 or more) have checking accounts; all others pay bills by cash or money order. - 21 -

Parental Families

Ten wives reported that theirfamilies were pleased attheir marriage; of these, three werepregnancy-provoked.The families of 10 girls were not pleased at theirmarriage; of these, seven werepregnancy-provoked. Fourteen reported that theirhusband's family was pleased;of these, eight did not please were premaritallypregnant. In the six marriages which husbands' families, two wives werepremaritally pregnant.

by seven Conflict with in-laws(usually mother-in-law) was reported wives, with areas of conflictvarying considerably waysof bringing up children, brother -in -law'swife's jealousy, religion,husband married "above him," mother - in-law's"old- fashioned ideas," baby'sdark complexion when father is light.

As to relations with their ownfamilies, 10 wives reportedimprovement, eight had remained the same, and twodeteriorated following marriage.

Number of Children Desired

No wife interviewed wished to be withoutchildren, but the wives varied in the number theythought ideal.

TABLE 8

DISTRIBUTION OF WIVES BY MEER OF CHILDREN DESIRED

Children desired Wives

2 5 3 4 8 5 2 6 1

The mean number desired was3.5 children; this is within the consen- sus figure for the generalpopulation in America, which is twoto four. (Freedman points out that this consensuswhich exists among the different social strata is surprisingly.great.) (10)

On the question of idealfamily size, 13 wives felt that their husbands agreed with them, seventhat they did not. Only three expressed difficulty in reconcilingcontraception with religious teaching.Each of these three mentioned that shecould take "the pill" for six months following delivery of each child, butthat she wasn't sure that it was "right," or that sheworried that it might be so "strong" as toimpair health. -22-

Eightwives said thattheir husbands absolutely refused to cooperate in obtaining or using any form of contraceptive,citing the husband's objections as being "for personalreasons" or "interferencewith pleasure." Rainwater says, of this"Do-Nothing".group, "Such aclearcut insistence seems morecharacteristic of men than women." (25) Contraception,15 wives felt, should be theirown responsibllity; fivefelt it should be the husband's.

Sex Education

Provision of information about sex wastheonly area in whichthey felt that, in general, there wouldbea marked differencebetween their children'supbringing and theirown; six wives expressed openresentmentat the lack of sex instruction provided by their mothers.

Clearly there isconsiderable roomfor earlierandbetter sex instruction for 'boys as well, and for theinculcationof a sense of responsibility for their awn power of procreation.As Kinsey pointedout, contrary to popularly held opinion, sex relations are not more frequent amongpeople of the lower socioeconomic classes, but theyare "underprivileged"in terms of sexualknowledge. (18)

Responsibilities

A discussion of theresponsibilitiesof a wifeandmother showed over- whelming response in the area of physical care of thechildren(mentioned by 14) and care of the home(mentioned byeight). Wives spoke oftenof wanting to "makeanice home for my husband." When elaboration wassought, a "nice home" was described mostly intermsof scrubbed floors,clean underwear,andmeals on time. A husbandand father's primary responsibility, as seen by18 wives, is to earn money. Only one wife said that while itis importantthata man work,it is also important that he findsatisfactions of his own in his work. All wives could tell where theirhusband worked, and the general nature of the business, but few coulddescribe the jobin any detail.They seemed somewhat surprised, infact,to be asked to think muchaboutthe hours that he spends away from home.

As otherresponsibilitiesof husbands and fathers, moraltraining and love were mentioned four times each; notedtwice was "remain with the family," and once each were patience, help withthe children, "being good to us." 23 -

Goals

Little differentiation in responsewas made between"family goals" their and "personal goals."Under family goals, wivesmentionedawning children, get chil- own home(eight times), stay toseaters education for dren grown up(three times each), happiness, goodmoral training for family, husband have job (twiceeach). In answer to the query on personalgoals, they mentioned happiness(five times), be a good wife, be a goodmother (four times each), and health, work withhorses, never pregnantagain, Christian life, unable to think of any(once each).

There was no mention of security as agoal, in terms of planningfor later life. This period of the familycycle, as a matter offact, was acknowledged only in two brief referencesto social security,indicative that the government program wouldprovide for all their needs whenthey were

No mention was made, either, ofsaving or otherwise providing for their children's education,although many saidthat they hoped their chil- drenwould be better educated than theythemselves were.The rather wist- ful dreams they have for theirchildren, dreams of educationand well- paying jobs, appear likely neverto develop beyond the dreamlevel.

In the wives' three unrestrictedwishes, it mks assumed thatthe wish mentioned first was of uppermostimportance.Wishes were mentioned with the following frequency:

First Wish

Own our awn home 8 Job, or better jobs for husband 5 Out of debt 1 Healthof husband 1 Happiness of children 1 Be a hairdresser 1 Take in orphans 1 Never pregnant again 1

Second Wish

Job, or better job, for husband 6 Own home Debts paid 2 Dryer 1 New car 1 Education for children 1 No suffering or hard times No worries 1 Own a horse 1 No baby for a few years 1 No baby next year 1 - 214 WO

Third Wish

Be happy 5 3 Good health 2 Own home 2 New furniture 1 Debts paid 1 Be a hairdresser 1 New washer 1 Education for husband 1 Not have children sofast 1 Not have children fortwo years 1 Husband have "operation"(vasectomy) both as the topitem Owning their own home was amajor goal, appearing wish," second mostfrequent in goals" and as the topitem in "first frequent in "thirdwish."It was men- in "second wish,"and third most categorJ .s by18 of the 20 wives. tioned as a majorgoal in one of these freedom from Rainwater suggests that"a home of ourown" represents being raised or,perhaps most tyrannical landlords,from fear of rent to stability, awayfrom the portant, represents"long strides on the way private ownership of ahome is, accord- brink of financialchaos." (24) Yet myths of Americanlife," for the income ing to Harrington,"one of the great that generallyrecognized as the of most of thesefamilies is well below think seriously ofbuying a home.(12) minimum requiredbefore a family can

Marriage Adjustment

along a continuumfrom Locke (19) says thatmarital adjustment ranges happiness in marriage, asjudged by very great to verylittle adjustment; and divorce representsmaladjustment.* an outsider,represents adjustment, of the Locke-Wallace The range of mean scorescited by the authors those known to bemaladjusted to Marriage Adjustment Testis from 71.7 for In the 20 marriagesin this 135.9 for those exceptionallywell adjusted. high of 156. Possible scores study, scores rangedfrom a low of 72 to a range from 2to 159. (72 to 95). Mile Six scores in thestudy group formed alow cluster in this low range,five of not all of the pregnancy -provoked marriages were marriages in whichpremarital pregnancy the six scoresbelow 100 were for below 100 were inClass V socio- was a factor.All marriages with a score low-scoring marriages,grade economic classification. In five of the six

20 couples studied,although in * There were nodivorced persons in the determined that threeof these tracing the original groupof 40 girls it was of the three wereliving in had been divorced, oneof them twice. Two another state; thethird could not betraced. -25- attainment of the husband was lower than that of the wife. In each case in which the score was below 100, there was a difference of at least 10 points in the intelligence of husband and wife; in five of the six cases the husband was of considerably lower intelligence.The mean age at marriage of wives scoring below 100 was 16.5, considerably below the mean of 17.1 for the entire group and 17.5 for the wives scoring 100 or over.

In terms of the Locke-Wallace means, the well-adjusted group scored high.Several possible explanations suggest themselves.First, a "honey- moon aura" may 'still color the score in these marriages, none of which is yet four years old.Second, there may be a defensive response to the investigator's unknown and possibly critical attitude toward youthful marriages. Third, there maybe relatively low expectancy for happiness and adjustment. And fourth, asa group these wives are not accustomed to evaluating intangibles, particularly relationships in which they themselves are involved and for whose appearance of success or failure they have a responsibility. In any case, the comment of its authors that the Locke- Wallace Test is most applicable to the middle class is reinforced, and it would appear that more work should be done in testing the validity of scores of a lower socioeconomic group.

Statistical correlationswere made of the Marriage Adjustment Score in relation to (1) difference between I.Q. of husband and wife, (2) difference in grade attainment of husband and wife, (3) age of wife at marriage, and (4) the factor of premarital pregnancy.The data used in the correlations appear in Tables 9 and 10.

The factors of difference in intelligence and in grade achievement were not found to be significant (at least within this small population). The factor of pregnancy provocation, however, was found to be significant at the .90 level, and that of age of wife at marriage at the .99 level. The latter bears out the suggestion of Moss and Gingles that age of wife at marriage may be emerging as a significant factor in stability of marriage. (23)

There appeared to be no relationship between income and Marriage Ad- justment Score. As Hollis points out, while severe economic pressure can contribute to conflict, there is no evidence that this appears in isola- tion; economic hardship only adds to other factors weakening the marriage. (15) - 26 - PERSONAL DATA CONCERNING THE POPULATION TABLE 9 Case1 Age17marrinop.....---m- Wyr at 9 mo ,...___Preg. M'arr. Adj. _____ 135 H's IQ 105 , W's IQ 102 H grade level 12 W grade level 10 Socioec. class IV 2 17 2 123 85 (100) 72 9092 12 8 10 9 IV V 3 16 6 * , , 54 17 10- * 138133 (100) 108 . 105 76 12 9 10 III V 67 1816 3- * 156 83 (90) 72 8385 10 8 98 IV V 98 161? 34 ** 140 95 102 91 9880 78 89 V 10 15 6 * 84 105 75 11 . . IV - 27 - 11 17 3 * 117 76 814 9 10 V _ 12 16 3 129 87 120 92 . 12 8 1011 v 1413 1816 31 131100 115 87 99 9 9 III IV ,. 1516 1816 3- * 135 72 8278 7589 98 9 VV 17 18 - 145 . 95 93 - 1310 9 IV 1819 1817 36 156 80 (110) 55 105 92 14 10 9 III V 20 17 2 * 136 ( ) estimated93 85 9 8 IV -28- RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARRIAGE ADJUSTMENT SCORE AND FOUR TABLE 10 VARIABLE FACTORS Factor N Sum Sum of :Sq. Average t -value Signif. Difference between andI.Q. wife of husband (MAS lessthan 100) 6 -27 3395 -4.50 (MAS morethan 99)- 2.14 -.8730 .60 1 Difference between (NAS lessthan 100 14 30 1168 wifeofgrade husband achievement and (MAS morethan 99) 14 6 -4 7 3849 -.66 .50 -1.1282 .70 Pregnancy provocation (Dreg. prov.) 10 1085 124433 108.50 -1.7760 .90 Age of wife (MAS(Not preg.)less 10 1288 170942 128.80 (MAS morethan 99)100) 14 6 11792932 614930231975 196.50209.42 -3.2628 .99 -29 -

Education for Homemaking

In School

Girls who can be identified aspotential dropouts are, ingeneral, ability, even poor in academicorientation.They are frequently low in more often low inachievement, doing a minimumof work (or less) in the for general classes to which they areassigned. It is the common pattern them to be placed in homemakingclasses when they appearunable to cope with more academic work.

Superficially, they would seem to havehad more exposure toeducation in homemaking than in many othersubject areas, sines therecords show an average of nearly two yearsof homemaking for each ofthe girls in the study. they had In many cases, girls were unable torecollect in which grades taken homemaking.They had even more difficultyin remembering subject areas offered atdifferent grade levels.

School records in the study city showthat homemaking was arequired subject for all girls in grade sevenin public schools.One of the two and junior high schools found it necessary,because of large enrollment limited, facilities and staff, to offerhomemaking to each girlfor half a year only in grade seven. In that same school, homemaking wasrequired high it was for the top three divisions in gradeeight; in the other junior elective in grade eight, and chosen by veryfew students in the upperhalf in grades nine and ten of the class.Homemaking was offered as an elective and taken, in general, by low - rankingstudents only.

No girl interviewed had had more thantwo years of homemaking. Twelve had had two "years" (one of which mightactually have been ahalf-iyear), seven had had one year,and one girl (atransfer) had had only one-half year of homemaking. All classes were about45 minutes long.

In grade 7, twelve girls had actuallytaken one-half year ofhomemaking, five had taken a full year, and threehad taken none.

In grade 8, four girls had takenhomemaking.

In grade 9, ten girls had taken.homemaking.

In grade 10, three girls had takenhomemaking for a full year, onefor one-half year.

When computed in terms ofclassroom meetings, based on a generous maximum of 36 school weeks per year,the mean number of classroommeetings per girl overthe entire four-year span of grades7 through 10 was 123.3 meetings. -30..

In other words, during the entirefour nap in which shemight have been reached with homemakinginformation and education forfamily living, the average girl received onlyabout 80 percent of the classtimein homemaking that would be devotedto one year of any other subject.

It appears unlikely,even impossible, that a naturally unmotivated student could be effectivelymotivated, and that student-teacherrapport could be built up to the point where education insensitive and critical areas could be achieved, on the basis of as little consistentcontact as this. Moreover, all the problemsinherent in low scholastic ability-- short attention span,poor carryover, and low level of participation-- are intensified, wherestudent-teacher contact is not regularand frequent.

Students experienledconsiderable difficulty in recallingthe subject areas studied in variousyears.For grade 7, food preparationwas mentioned nine timesand clothing constructionsix times; for grade 8, clothing construction was mentioned eight times, food preparationsix times, and child care (baby-sitting) five times; for grade 9, clothingconstruction and food preparation were each mentioned thirteen times, health andhome nursing ten times;for grade 10, clothingconstruction and food preparation three times each.

There wasnoway of determining whetherthese al3as were recalled because they involved physical activity, or because theseareas made up the scope of the material offered; it is reasonable toassume that both factors were operative.

Respondentswere asked to "think back to theyear you were in seventh grade, and what you studied in homemaking. In terms ofwhat you have dis- covered you need to know inyour job as a wife wife and mother), wouldyou say that what you learned in each of the following subjectareas has given you much help, a fairamount of help,or no help?"The question was re- peated for the remaininggrades through 10.

The subject areas named by the investigatorwere: child care and development; clothingand personalcare; food preparation; health, safety, and home nursing; housing and home furnishings;money management and con- sumer education; personaland family relations.

In the case ofchild care and development,more than half the respondents referred to its beingtaught as "baby-sitting"; againthe orientation was to another socioeconomicgroup than theirs.

In everycase, if an item was remembered at all,the chance was two to one that it would be placed inthe "great help" or "fair help" column.

The reliability ofrecollection, however, is seriouslyopen to question. For example, only fourgirls had takenany homemaking in grade 10, yet 13 "remembered" that workin food preparation in grade10 had been helpful to them in varying degrees. Moreover, clothing constructionwas remembered as among the most "helpful" subjects studied.Yet no girl had madea garment of any kind, for herself or children, since leaving school, andonly two said that they used the sewing machine in doingsimple household mending. recalled most readily thosesub- It must be concludedthat students participation, but thatthe jects in which there hadbeen active physical guarantee carry-over simple fact of remembering asubject area did not into home use. of having had to The skills which thehomemakers were most conscious 11), develop after marriage werecooking and mealplanning (mentioned by Most of their child care and development(10), and money management(4). mis- help, they felt, had comefrom their mothersand from making their own those which had to be takes.The skills they mentionedmost often as being developed after marriage were inthe subject areas inhomemaking classes that they had considered mosthelpful.

Extension Home Economics

Without exception, all 20 younghomemakers gave negative answersto Demonstration" pro- questions concerning knowledgeof "Extension" or "Home thought that "Home Dem- grams or activities. More than half of the group products, such as onstration" might have to do withthe demonstration of plastics and jewelry, in the homeat neighborhoodparties where orders Agent was, would be taken. They did not know who theHome Demonstration. nor what she was.

When asked whether they had everheard of "Across theFence", 15 could identify it as a television program,but only two said they ever when it was watched it.These two were able tospecify the time of day could aired, and general subject areasthey had seen.. The remaining 13 referred to it as being not tell the time of day itcould be seen, and many "for farmers," "not anything thatI'd care about." when No homemaker said she sent forpublications from any source, even contained much they were free, nor did anyonefeel that the daily paper information that would be helpfulin her daily job ofhomemaking. present form, It must be concluded that theExtension program, in its this group of young is virtually unknown to andtotally ineffective with homemakers.

IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY

Not enough is yet known aboutthe marriage-oriented,low-achieving student. the fe- It is possible, in a significantnumber of cases, to identify male marriage-oriented potentialschool dropout:her profile includes grades, poor low to low-average intelligence, poorachievement scores, low attendance record, lack of motivation,absence of participation in co- dating rather early, and has curricular activities.She probably began She expects little future orientationin regard to work outside thehome. -320. to be a wife and mother, and thisexpectation is strengthened bythe fact that this is the norm in the value systemin which she lives. She will most likely leave school beforecompletion of grade 10, and thereis a greater than normal chance that she willbe premaribaAr pregnant.

In some cases, depending on her own maturity,and the maturity and earning capacity of her husband, she may achievein marriage and motherhood far greater success than she did in the milieu ofthe school.

In other cases, and these are in the majority,she faces problems of law income and unemployment, poor housing and homeenvironment for her children, debt, less than adequate medical care, too frequentpregnancy, and a law level of marriage adjustment., Moreover,belief that the future will be significantly better and aspiration for improvementthrough personal effort are conspicuously lacking.

As yet, she is not being realistically prepared forher life role by the experiences offered to her in homemaking classes whileshe is in school, nor is she being reached effectively by anExtension home economics program once she is out of school*

Her outstanding needs are for education in the areasof child care and development, prenatal care, sex information, and mealpreparation. The fact that, in marriage, she is likely to achieve alam socioeconomic status intensifies her needs:she has less money to seek help,and the very characteristics of her class makeit unlikely that she willknow sources of help in the community or seek them out independently.

The famous solution to all problems educate the poor loses its mewing when the subject feels little need for education,and the teacher has little knowledge of how to teach the pooreffectively.

Implications for In-School Homemaking Education

The school carries a prime responsibility, in thatit is probably the first and last social organization, apart from thefamily, with which these girls have continuing contact for a considerableperiod of time.It is within the school that the potential dropout, canbe identified. It is within the school that two to three yearsard'available during which education for family living can be offered undercontrolled conditions. It is within the school situation that the groundwork canbe laid on which continuing out-of-school contacts maybe built.

The fact that the early-marrying school dropout canbe identified with considerable accuracy should constitute a point of departure for a program that will meet her needs. But the decisive moment comes,not when she is identified, but when a decision is made as to how sheshall be taught. It is here that middle-class orientations begin towiden the gap that already exists between educational needs and the educationalofferings expected to meet these needs. -33-

Course content in homemaking classesfor grades 7 through 10should be scrupulously evaluated in termsof its relationship to theactual needs of young wives and mothers of limitededucation and low income. Professional biases are observable in every areaof homemaking education. A teacher may approach thesubject of child care anddevelopment as "Now some of you are old enough to earn money asbaby sitters" even though her class may be made up, at leastin part, of girls at that verymoment premaritally pregnant.But she is reflecting a bias thatmakes it nearly impossible for her to admit such conditions canand doexist. The teacher who sews wellherself and enjoys teaching swim maylead a group of potential schooldropoutsto spend on clothing constructionhalf of the total hours available for educationin family living.But she is exhibiting abias which says that it isnicer to be the kind of girl who makes her own clothes than the kind of girl whoisa wife and motherat age 17.

The teacher who dismisses as "impossible toteach" the girls who can- not or will not learnthe scientific whys of nutrition istruly throwing out the baby with the bat water.

The fact must be faced that workwith the low achiever, the girl with poor motivation, is hard andfrequently frustrating. It is not everyone's forte; not only must the teacher possess competencyin the required skills, but she must have as well the ability andpatience and concern to develop similar competencies in her students.

Part of theMemo in whichtoday'shomemaking teacherfindsherself arises from the fact that she has been urgedfrom every side to upgrade her subject matter.Shehas beendirected to teach the whys(principles) as well as the haws(skills), and to protect her academic respectability and the inviolability of homemaking's place in thecurriculum by making the material challenging to the academicallytalentedstudent. In an effort to please everybody, she may end by effectivelyserving nobody. Where enrollment is sufficient, consideration shouldbe givento homogenous grouping in homemaking classes ofstudents who approach the profile of the potential dropout. Grouping onother than grade levelmight make this feasible in smaller schools.Class meetings should be daily,to reinforce motivation, retention,and rapport. Homogenous grouping notonly makes unity possible in methods ofteaching, but the approach to subject matter can be farmore direct and realistic. "When you are married" and "When you are taking careof your baby" are more meaningful to girlsin this group than "Now that you areold enough to baby sit." Subject areas in which there is opportuLity forparticipation and ac- tivi.ty are remembered to a greater degree.Opportunity should be given for individual experience and practicefor, as one young homemaker pointed out, "We never did anything except in groupsof four and I keep house all by myself." The mundanities of housing,shopping, feeding the family, spending the family's money -- these need to be investedwith reality and appeal for the girl who, without any experience atearning and managing, will take over the role of chief comptroller.

All of the traditional skills need to beconsidered and evaluated in terms of the actual conditions under which studentswill be managing a home. In a rural setting, for example, canning and other homemethods of food preservation may be important -- but this can nolonger be assumed to be true.The use of government surplus commodities in mealpreparation should be taught in proportion as it does or does not figure inthe lives of the students. In any case, skill in reading, interpreting,and following directions will be applicable no matter what thetrend of meal patterns in their lives.

Prenatal care has been shown to be a high priority need ofteen-age wives; homogenously grouped classes offer an opportunitynot only to make clear the importance of maternal and child health,but to introduce the agencies through which such care may be obtained in thecommunity. Much fear and reluctance to seek help could be dissipatedthrough field tripe to clinics, sample prenatal classes, and well-babyagencies. Probably no single area offers a better chance, through physical careand information, to make a beginuing toward favorably influencing thewhole cycle of living.

In view of the limited number of resources for informationavailable in the home, homemaking classes could build up a soundand understandable set of reference materials with whose convents thestudent would be familiar through classroom work.

Certainly the subject areas highest in priority should betaught in grades seven through nine, after which the ranksof "potential" dropouts thin rather rapidly.Depth and detail, and subject areas offeringcreative satisfactions, maybe added for those girls who remainin school.

The objectives of a preterminal homemaking classshould be wholly clear to administration, faculty, and guidancepersonnel.Their help is essential not only in organizing and scheduling, butin identifying and referring students, and in setting and maintaining adesirable climate toward the class within the school.

ications For Extension Home Economics Programs

Those responsible for Extension home economics programs aresimilarly urged to review content, materials, and methods so asto bring some part of the Extension program in line with thecharacteristics of this heretofore unseen clientele.

The young homemaker of low socioeconomicand educational background is not oriented to any of the traditionallines of Extension communication. She does not read much, nor watchtelevision for purposes of information or -35 -

belong to groups.Group membership improvement of skill.She does not pattern nor,indeed, is out -of-school is not a partof her cultural Ex- kind.In workingeffectively withthis clientele, education of any break out of theirtraditional tension home economistsmust be ready to to the recognition orcreation of oppor- patterns.They must be alive tunities to meethomemakers in thesecurity of their onenvironment. homemaking teachers,community First, working incooperation with be to girls in grades Extension home economistsshould routinely introduced and nine, and given achance to make clearthe kinds of help seven, eight, A perfunctoryintroduction will they can offer toout-of-school families. may particularly if it not be remembered; astimulating demonstration -o "this is the kindof thing we couldget together out- :iis in the spirit of would reinforce the side of school to dotoo." A returnvisit each year basis for a laterworking relationship. provide, adaptingwhere neces- The Extension homeeconomist could also home library forthe of the referencesthat might constituteP. sary, many few. girl when she is inher own home, whereresources are whereby the schoolguidance of- Second, a system mightbe established home economist ofgirls who are fice routinelyinforms the Extension to figure in thestudent la leaving school,particularly if marriage seems form the nucleus of a newmailing immediate plane. Such referrals might notices of specialtelevision pro- list of especiallyadapted materials, grams, andnewsletters for younghomemakers andmothers. lack friends amongtheir peers and Third, since thesegirls do not those who relatives, a page mightsuccessfully be takenfrom the book of education to sell.Kitchen parties, have a commercialproduct rather than possi- on much the samebasis as thefamiliar"plastics parties," are a bility. It has threateningovertones Formal organizationshouldbe avoided. few, if any, qualitiesof for this group, whosemembers have developed taken, also, to avoidthe implicationthat a leadership.Care should be committine; herself to along, or evenindefinite, series participant is of theneeds they of meetings. Ifthe material ismeaningful in terms are notthreatening, then a themselves recognize,and if the circumstances the aware to renew theexperience, it maybe hoped,will originate with participants. for educationalexperiencesmight also be ar- Fourth, opportunities as prenataland well-babyclinics. ranged in cooperationwith such agencies (and one One of the chiefcomplaintsthat young mothershave about clinics offer for not gettingclinic care) is the of the mostpopular excuses they Service hasfound necessity forlong waits.In some states,the Extension demonstrations andnutrition this waiting period agood timefor food dieticians, andvolunteer leadersassist- classes,with public health nurses, demonstrations manyhospitals ing in theprogram.The postnatalclasses and might also beexpanded to include abroaderspectrum offer for new mothers economists couldmake of skills andinformation. In these,Extension home familiar asresource personswithin avaluable contribution,and become more -36 the community. local leadership for A concentrated effortshould be made to find dropout 1 -H Club groups in the urban. neighborhoodswhere potential school girls live.Programs should be adapted totheir needs and interests, recognizing that the club may nothold them as long as itdoes girls in higher socioeconomic levels. Extension One major deterrent in reaching lawsocioeconomic groups with information is that publications have, forthe most part, beenprepared for Exten- with a middle class clientele inmind. A fifth recommendation sion educators is, therefore, thatmaterials be prepared for usewithin the specific limitations and interestsof this group.

Another problem of which Extensionpersonnel must be aware isthat of within the lowest socioeconomic levelsthere is a built-in distrust strangers, even well-meaning ones. The guard against prying,snooping, and interference from outside is inforce regardless of whetherthe in- truder is visiting nurse, social worker,truant officer, orbill collector. under- Association with "outsiders" is frequentlyunhappy, and families grow standably resentful of a procession ofrepresentatives of variousagencies. Increased cooperation among agencies istherefore suggested.Here, too, previous introduction of the Extensionworker within the schoolsetting nay encourage acceptance of contactin the out-of-school situation.

lications for Education of ProfessionalHome Economists

The first task of persons who are to workwith socioeconomic groups other than their own is to clarifytheir own concepts and toreexamine the goals of the work for which theythemselves will be responsible.They must recognize that a family in a low socioeconomicstratum is not just amid- dle class family with less money.Given the same income theywill not be- in have alike. To work effectively as a teacher, onemust recognize that many ways thethinking and living of the pervms tobe taught may be different from one's own patterns. AsHollingshead and Redlich sayof a similar hiatus between the psychiatrictherapist and mental patientsfrom lower socioeconomic strata, "It is notthe patient's job a priorito understand the psychiatrist, but it isthe psychiatrist's job tounderstand the patient. "' (14)

Until it is recognized that theprofession's traditions are oriented economics will offer to the needs andinterests of the middle class, home little that is truly meaningful tothis group.Yet by its very nature home economics should be in adominant position to preparemarriage- oriented girls, througheducation, for family living. Andeducation) sociologists agree, is the only wayin which the vicious chain oflow intelligence wedded to lawintelligence, low socioeconomic patternswedded Self-perpetuation is not to law socioeconomicpatterns, can be broken. inevitable. -37-

of the teachermust include, onthe college Professional preparation members have that this groupexists, that its level, far greater awareness students whose not conform to thoseof middle-class special needs that do who an- parallel the teacher's. College students orientations more nearly to come ticipate work with this groupin anyway shouldhave opportunities to know members ofit as individualhuman beings. whether Undergraduates who arepreparing for homeeconomics education, in out-of-school programs,should have work in in secondary schools or should serve a sociology in their requiredcurriculum. In addition, they ptblic health required number ofhours as aides towelfare workers or sponsored by such localorganizations as have nurses.Or they should be families on a entree to, and canprovide contact with,low socioeconomic continuity to permitdevelopmont of someunderstandings, basis of sufficient be under- appreciations, and workingrelationships.Such fieldwork might to provide additional ex- taken as one aspect of aspecial senior problem orientation. perience outside theundergraduate's own level of

Limitations of the Stu

small number of younghome- The major limitationof the study was the Although on a preliminarybasis, makers that constitutedthe population. discerned, it is unsafe tobase broad generaliza- general patterns maybe Score with the The correlations ofMarriage Adjustment tions on 20 cases. wife, and dif- variables of differencein intelligencebetween husband and especially, indicate that a ference in grade levelof husband and wife, conclusions are to be drawn. larger number of casesis needed if of a small city Moreover, the populationstudied was representative rural resi- Findings might varyconsiderably if respondents were only. Similar, but broader dents, or lived insmall towns or largecities. school dropouts in rural, studies, undertakenwith youthfully marrying provide more information onhow small town, and largecity contexts would taught under varying con- skills for family living canbe most effectively It would be desirableto compare actualcurriculum content, and ditions. to method5 by which it hasbeen offered, withsubject matter recollected, recalled and others are not. try to deLormine whycertain areas are not, in the past, had Since the 441 programin the study county has which girls in this study clubs organized in thegeo-economic areasin experiences was included inthe lived, no investigationof 4.41 contact or months, however, twoclubs have been question schedule.During the past few So future studies organized in theseneighborhoods on a pilotbasis. program with should include examinationof the effectivenessof the girls of law socioeconomicbackground. feels that this study has In spite of theselimitations, the writer the served as a basis forfurther and moredetailed investigations into made needs of this segmentof the population. The fact that observations of investigators of otheraspects in this study are inagreement with those of similar groupslends validity to thefindings. -38-

LITERATURE CITED

1. Abell, H., and Larson, O.Homemaking practices and the communication of homemaking information: Four rural New York areas.Cornell Univ. Expt. Sta. Bull. 56. 1960.

2. Bienstock, H,Realities of the job market for the high schooldropout. Unpublished paper. May 1963.

3. Burchinal, Lee.Adolescent role deprivation and high school age marriage. Marriage and Family Living. Nov. 1959.

Ii. Burchinal, lee.Research on young marriages: Implications forfamily life education. The Family Life Coordinator. Sept. 1960.

5. Burchinal, Lee. School policies and school age marriages.The Family Life Coordinator. March 1960.

6. Burchinal, Lee, and Chancellor, L.Social status, religious affilia- tion, and ages at marriage. Marriage and Family Living. May 1963.

7. Chinniah, K. An inventory for measuring mothers' attitudes toward learning:Experiences for children in the management of money. Master's Thesis, Iowa State University. 1962.

8. Cristensen, H., and Meisner, H.Studies in child spacing III: Premarital pregnancy as a factor in divorce.Am. Sociological Rev.Dec. 1955.

9. Fisher, R.Statistical methods for research workers, 6th edition, p. 251. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.

10. Freedman, R., lWhelpton, P., and Campbell, A. Family planning: Sterility and population growth. New York: McGraw Hill Book Co. Inc. 1959.

11, Garner, K., and Sperry, I. Scholastic achievements of married. and unmarried high school students. National Association for Secondary School Principals.Bull. May 1961.

12. Harrington, M. The Other America. New York:The MacMillan Co. 1963.

13.Havighurst, R.Early marriage and the schools. School Review. Spring 1961.

14.Hollingshead, A., and Redlich, F.Social Class and Mental Illness. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 1958.

15.Hollis, F.Women in Marital Conflict. New York: Family Service Association of America. 1949. -39-

factors associated with high 16. Inselberg, R. Social and psychological school marriage. Journal of Home Economics. Nov. 1961.

A Comparison of indexes ofsocioeconomic 17.Kahl, J., and Davis, J. status.Am. Sociological Review. June 1955. Philadelphia: Saunders 18. Kinsey, A.Sexual Behavior in the HumanFemale. Press. 1953. New York: Henry Holt Co. 19. Locke, H. Predicting Adjustment in Marriage. 1951. Their 20. Locke, H., and Wallace, K. Short marital adjustment tests: reliability and validity.Marriage and Family Living.Aug. 1959. Unpublished 21. Martinson, F. Ego deficiency as afactor in marriage. paper. 1957.

22. Miller, L.The dropout: Schools searchfor clues to his problems. School Life.May 1963. inci- 23. Moss, Jef and Gingles, R.Relationship of personality to the dence of early marriage.Marriage and Family Living. Nov. 1959.

24.Rainwater, L., with Coleman, R., andHandel, G.Workingman's Wife. New York: Oceana Publications Inc.1959.

25. Rainwater, L. and Weinstein, K. And the Poor Get Children. Chicago: Quadrangle Books. 1960.

26.Rust, B.Characteristics of Iowa women related tocertain reasons for attending adult homemakingclasses.Master's thesis, Iowa State Col- lege. 1952. Marriage and Family 27. Siegel, E.Medical problems of teen-age mothers. Living, Nov. 1963.

28. State of Vermont, Dept. of Health.Annual bulletin of vital statistics 1962.

29. Stinson, C. Relation of goals and economics statusof farm families. Master's thesis, Iowa State College. 1958.

30. U.S. Bureau of the Census Survey. Population reports, Series P-20, No. 105.Washington, D. C.Nov. 1960.

31. Warner, L., Meeker, M., and Eels,K. Social Class in America. Gloucester, Mass. Peter Smith. 1957.