From Bastardy to Equality
The Rights of Nonmartial Children and their Fathers in Comparative Perspective
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3039977 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Wolfgang P Hirczy De Miño (University of Houston, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2000 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 231-262 |
| Publication date | 2000-05-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Comparative Family Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2328 • E-ISSN: 1929-9850 |
| Publisher | University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.3138/jcfs.31.2.231 |
| OpenAlex | W2596709553 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 3 |
This paper examines nonmarital childbearing, which has become more prevalent in many industrialized nations, as a problem of state regulatory policy. Illegitimacy is here treated as a legal construct that has outlived its justification because discrimination on the basis of birth cannot be reconciled with modern notions of fairness and individual rights. Policies adopted in the U.S. and in Europe are reviewed and evaluated based on the criterion of nondiscrimination. Universal and mandatory paternity establishment, combined with a guarantee of equality in parent-child relationships irrespective of marriage, best protect the interests of non-marital children and their fathers. It is also good social policy in that it affirms procreation and childrearing as joint parental endeavors, protects the child's right to a relationship with both parents, and furthers some of the state's interests in marriage by making out-of-wedlock birth similar in its legal and actual consequences to a decision to marry, which the State cannot compel
Construct (python library) · Perspective (graphical) · Political science · Sociology · State (computer science) · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Reproductive Health and Technologies
| Citations per year | 0.19 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2005 - 2011 (7) |
| Highly cited | No |