Societal Importance of Marriage

Happened upon this article. [link to thefederalist.com (secure)]

"Millennials Are Sympathetic to Traditional Gender Roles
What’s clearly not wishful thinking—in fact Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Joanna Pepin, David Cotter, the authors of the studies, are not at all pleased by their findings—is the news that only a small minority of millennial voters are feminists, and that, reversing a long-term trend, millennials are more likely than their elders to believe that men and women are “inherently” suited to particular tasks involved in family life." (Less than 50%)

Which lead to this study; [link to stateofourunions.org]

"IN MIDDLE AMERICA, MARRIAGE IS IN TROUBLE. Among the affluent, marriage is stable and may even be getting stronger. Among the poor, marriage continues to be fragile and weak. But the most consequential marriage trend of our time concerns the broad center of our society, where marriage, that iconic middle-class institution, is foundering."

"The retreat from marriage in Middle America cuts deeply into the nation’s hopes and dreams as well. For if marriage is increasingly unachievable for our moderately educated citizens—a group that represents 58 percent of the adult population (age 25–60)[4]—then it is likely that we will witness the emergence of a new society. For a substantial share of the United States, economic mobility will be out of reach, their children’s life chances will diminish, and large numbers of young men will live apart from the civilizing power of married life.

This retreat is also troubling because highly educated Americans (defined here as having at least a bachelor’s degree) have in recent years been largely unaffected by the tidal wave of family change that first hit the poor in the 1960s and has since moved higher into Middle America. Indeed, highly educated Americans, who make up 30 percent of the adult population, now enjoy marriages that are as stable and happy as those four decades ago. There is thus a growing “marriage gap” between moderately and highly educated America.[5] This means that more affluent Americans are now doubly privileged in comparison to their moderately educated fellow citizens—by their superior socioeconomic resources and by their stable family lives.

So the United States is increasingly a separate and unequal nation when it comes to the institution of marriage. Marriage is in danger of becoming a luxury good attainable only to those with the material and cultural means to grab hold of it. The marginalization of marriage in Middle America is especially worrisome, because this institution has long served the American experiment in democracy as an engine of the American Dream, a seedbed of virtue for children, and one of the few sources of social solidarity in a nation that otherwise prizes individual liberty.[6]" (Less than 50%). [Bolded sections chosen by me]

Immediately I reflected on the often pervasive marriage bashing posts found here; along with the seeming desire to see more traditional gender roles and thought this could be food for thought & reflection & an interesting discussion.

Last Edited by ThereRMeds4That on 07/18/2017 05:56 PM