Reframing Marriage and Marital Delay Among Low-Income Mothers: An Interactionist Perspective

A common assertion in the family science literature is that low‐income single mothers are increasingly retreating from marriage but still vaunt it as their ultimate relationship goal. To explain this paradox, scholars frequently cite inadequacies in men's marriageability, financial instability, and conflictual romantic relationships as primary forces in mothers' decisions not to marry. We propose an alternative reasoning for this paradox using symbolic interactionist theory and perspectives on poverty and uncertainty. Specifically, we highlight the contradictions between what women say about their desires to marry and what they actually do when the opportunity presents itself. We use exemplar cases from a longitudinal ethnographic study of low‐income rural mothers to demonstrate our reasoning. Implications for future research and theory development are discussed.