To Be a Single Mom—Results of a Sociological Field Research Made in the Past

In Slovakia in 1980, 5,6% of all live-born infants were born out of wedlock, and their proportion today is 37,8%, but we have no precise information on how many of them were born to single mothers, or how many to those unmarried but cohabiting with a partner. This study presents the results of a qualitative research made 30 years ago in five districts of Southern Slovakia. In the research we used three methods: document analysis, semi-structured interviews with 49 single mothers and further respondents, and field research. We were examining the issue of who became a single mother at that time and why. What kind of partnership preceded the birth of their baby? What was the public attitude towards them? The results of the research performed back in 1980 forecasted the present-day tendencies of the transformation of partnerships.