With rising divorce rates, single–parent families make up an increasing portion of all families in Canada. Despite the struggles and commitment of the women who are the sole providers of these families, most single parents are raising children in poverty. Eating the Wedding Gifts focuses on the lack of post–secondary education as the major factor in this persistent social reality and provides strong evidence that young women at high school today (and their parents) will find compelling. Choices made at high school graduation are key to a woman’s life–time economic independence&—as divorce and poverty figures show, the most risky choice is marriage before higher education. Many women have been playing it safe over the last two decades, going on from high school to university in increasing numbers with the result that Canadian women with university degrees now outnumber men with degrees. Looking to their own futures, today’s female high school students need to count themselves among the numbers in this unparalleled trend for women, preparing for self–sufficiency whatever surprises life may hold.

Barbara Murphy, an Ottawa writer and social policy consultant, writes about social issues affecting Canadians. Her books include, Eating the Wedding Gifts: Lean Years After Marriage Breakâ??up (2005), Why Women Bury Men: The Longevity Gap in Canada (2002), On the Street: How We Created the Homeless (2000), and The Ugly Canadian: The Rise and Fall of a Caring Society (1998).

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