She is a widow and the children are fatherless.
Checks using other biographical evidence confirm that fatherless children started work two or three years before those with fathers present in their families.$!
A higher proportion of fatherless boys were accepted below the height standard, which may be related to their fatherless state.
The situation was marked by malnutrition, a shortage of housing, the misery of refugees and, in the beginning, frequently also by a rather large number of fatherless families.
The act of producing another fatherless child in this world doesn't seem like an obvious contribution toward promoting the general good or happiness on an already overpopulated planet.
In general, boys aged 13 or 14 tended to be shorter if they were fatherless, but the difference was no longer apparent for 15- and 16-year-olds.
War, livestock disease and smallpox unsettled human populations, and left many children fatherless.
Mariette would eventually have to come to terms with the fact that she is not only fatherless, but also has no second genetic parent of any gender.
