I just read this article in the NY Times. I highly recommend it. It's a very disturbing, thought-provoking piece about the rise of infant mortality in the poorest regions of Mississippi. I don't really know what to say about it. It reminded me of this book by a former professor. It's really hard to reconcile the structural and cultural features of abject poverty. I generally try to avoid the culture of poverty argument, because I think it often unfairly stigmatizes people who have just fallen into really bad circumstances. But, there is something to be said about having 3 babies die by the time you are 24, yet you keep on getting pregnant and keep on neglecting medical care. I know that education is a huge factor here. Access to clinics and vitamins and prenatal care is really vital. (At this point, let me point out that the US has the highest infant mortality rate of any developed, Western nation. Might the lack of health care have something to do with that? I think so.) But, so is educating young women about the consequences of young, single motherhood. This is a social problem that has puzzled me for years. I tend to think (in my most pessimistic moments) that this problem is unsolvable.

What are your thoughts?