Notes on Tokens Article

There are several areas in this article I find disturbing.  First, the desperation of the women that found no other alternative for their child than to put them in an institution.  The times made jobs hard to find and therefore, existence impossible to support themselves or their children.  Another problem is the general lack of education of the common man that left even so much as a real method of identification a problem which was addressed by leaving the so called " momento".  A shocking area of concern also, is that so few of these babies were ever reunited with their mothers.  The requirement of having to pay for all the care the infant received, no doubt, had to have been the major impediment.   Domestic service was one common avenue open for female employment but the wages usually were low and included lodging and meals rather than much monetary compensation.  The predicament remains how could someone repay such a sizeable bill?  Life for women in general, tended to exist on the edges of desperation and when there was no work, what little they had they used to escape their misery, such as alcohol, drugs or prostitution.  People without a support system have problems that others don't even recognize.  I wonder how far society has advanced when you look at people today and see unemployment, hunger, the high cost of housing and still throngs of people who are alone in life and in a similar predicament.  There will always be situations where there is simply no solution.