Now it's less gender stereotype and more necessity (though both still apply). In the past 50 years there has been a tectonic shift in single motherhood, and th

Now it's less gender stereotype and more necessity (though both still apply). In the past 50 years there has been a tectonic shift in single motherhood, and the implications thereof make education a much less pressing concern than others. Even when you finish school, kids today are at a significant disadvantage as test scores continue to plummet. In some areas of the US there's no significant advantage to finishing high school. And after having a child very young with no other parent to help raise it, going to school may not be a choice one can reasonably make. Women today face not only discrimination and abuse, they are left rearing children and trying to make ends meet starting in their teens, with large racial and economic biases. This is the reality we should really be shocked by, and not just the vestiges of our recent past.