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发帖数: 824 | 1 Marriage Rate Falls to About 50% As People Say Institution is Obsolete
By Elizabeth Lopatto - Nov 18, 2010 2:03 PM ET
About half of all adults in the U.S. are married, down from 72 percent in
1960, while 4 in 10 people consider marriage obsolete and most say their
definition of family has changed, according to a poll.
In a telephone survey of 2,691 Americans by the Pew Research Center in
Washington and Time magazine, 86 percent of respondents said a single parent
and child constitute a family. Four out of 5 respondents said an unmarried
man and woman with a child also were a family, and 63 percent said a gay or
lesbian couple raising a youngster could be described the same way.
The findings come with a “mix of unease and acceptance” as respondents
were evenly split as to whether the new family units were good, bad or didn
’t make a difference for society, the authors of the report said. Young
adults, non-religious people, liberals and blacks, were more likely to be
accepting of the new arrangements than their counterparts. Most people, no
matter how they defined family, said it was central to their lives and more
important than career, social life or community.
“The survey finds that Americans have an expansive definition of what
constitutes a family,” the report said. “And the vast majority of adults
consider their own family to be the most important, most satisfying element
of their lives.”
The sharp decline in marriage is most pronounced among young adults. In 2008
, 26 percent of 20-somethings were married compared with 68 percent in 1960.
The number of young people who will ever marry “is an open question,” the
report found.
‘More Tolerant’
“Younger Americans are much more open to the changes and more tolerant of
alternative arrangements,” the report said. Almost half of those under 30
said that the changes to family arrangements are a good thing.
As marriage has declined, cohabitation has become more widespread. Living
with a partner has doubled since 1990, and 44 percent of adults say they
have cohabited at some point, usually as a step toward marriage.
Among respondents who were married, 93 percent said love was the most
important reason to tie the knot.
Marriage rates also were higher among those with greater education levels.
In 2008, 64 percent of college graduates were married compared with 48
percent of those with a high school diploma or less, the survey showed. In
1960, 76 percent of those who graduated from college were married, compared
with 72 percent of adults who didn’t attend an institute of higher
education.
“These findings suggest that those with less income and education are
opting out of marriage not because they don’t value the institution or
aspire to its benefits, but because they may doubt that they (or a potential
spouse) can meet the standards they impose on marriage,” the report said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Lopatto in New York at
e******[email protected].
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@
bloomberg.net. |
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