It's a little unclear in the article why unemployment should lead to this family structure of single mothers having kids with three different fathers (US family

It's a little unclear in the article why unemployment should lead to this family structure of single mothers having kids with three different fathers (US family law strongly favors motherly custodyy), until this: "For many men in Tallulah, the greatest obstacle to finding a job is that they have already fallen foul of the law. ...And here the falling fortunes of working-class men do further damage. In 1960, among never-married American adults aged 25-34, there were 139 men with jobs for every 100 women, with or without jobs. ...By 2012 there were only 91 employed men for every 100 women in this group. ...Even a small imbalance can have big effects. Imagine a simplified “mating market” consisting of ten men and ten women, all heterosexual. Everyone pairs up. Now take one man away. One woman is doomed to be single, so she may opt to poach another woman’s partner. A chain reaction ensues: all the women are suddenly less secure in their relationships. Some of the men, by contrast, become tempted to play the field rather than settle down. In most rich countries the supply of eligible blue-collar men does not match demand. Among black Americans, thanks to mass incarceration, it does not come close. For every 100 African-American women aged 25-54 who are not behind bars, there are only 83 men of the same age at liberty." Even more reason for "ban the box" https://www.vox.com/2015/11/2/9660282/obama-ban-the-box https://www.vox.com/2015/11/2/9660282/obama-ban-the-box