Pallavi Gogoi

I'm 44.

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Happy Mother's Day to you.

I am.

Thank you.

Yeah, I mean, until recently, I think the stereotype was of a woman, often very young, who was trapped into motherhood because of poverty, abandonment, abuse, you name it.

But Ayesha, there's government data now that suggests single motherhood today looks very different from those old stereotypes.

So what does single motherhood look like now?

So let me start with a couple of stats.

These days, around 40% of American kids are born to unmarried mothers.

And that's up from 5% in 1960.

So a huge jump.

Second stat, unmarried women over the age of 30, that's the fastest growing group of single parents in this country.

And, you know, this is a time when we know overall birth rates are declining.

So as a business editor, I was really interested in exploring this completely contradictory phenomenon.

You know, what motivates these women?

So, you know, Ayesha, I've been on this journey and it's been so eye-opening.

Well, Ayesha, there have been so many takeaways.