Cherlin, AndrewCross-Barnet, CaitlinBurton, Linda M.Garrett-Peters, Raymond2021-09-082021-09-082008-10-23Cherlin, Andrew et al.; Promises They Can Keep: Low-Income Women’s Attitudes Toward Motherhood, Marriage, and Divorce; Journal of Marriage and Family, 70, 4, pages 919-933, 23 October, 2008; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00536.xhttps://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00536.xhttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/22963Using data on low-income mothers in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio, we test three propositions regarding mothers’ attitudes toward childbearing, marriage, and divorce. These are drawn from K. Edin and M. J. Kefalas (2005) but have also arisen in other recent studies. We find strong support for the proposition that childbearing outside of marriage carries little stigma, limited support for the proposition that women prefer to have children well before marrying, and almost no support for the proposition that women hesitate to marry because they fear divorce. We suggest that mothers’ attitudes and preferences in these three domains do not support the long delay between childbearing and marriage that has been noted in the literature.20 pagesen-USThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Cherlin, Andrew et al.; Promises They Can Keep: Low-Income Women’s Attitudes Toward Motherhood, Marriage, and Divorce; Journal of Marriage and Family, 70, 4, pages 919-933, 23 October, 2008; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00536.x, which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00536.xPromises They Can Keep: Low-Income Women’s Attitudes Toward Motherhood, Marriage, and DivorceText