Fewer young Americans getting married, report finds

[alp227]

The drift in America away from marriage as the central pillar of society has reached a crucial landmark with the proportion of young adults who have never married exceeding that of married couples for the first time since records began more than a century ago.

An analysis of statistics gathered from 2009 and this year by the Population Reference Bureau underlines the sea change that has swept across the US since the 1970s when the steady decline in marriage as a social institution began.

The PRB finds that in the past decade the proportion of American adults aged 25 to 34 who are married has fallen from 55.1% in 2000 to 44.9% last year. Meanwhile, the percentage of young people in the same age bracket who have never married marched inexorably in the opposite direction, rising from 34.5% in 2000 to 46.3% in 2009.

A similarly consistent trend is found among the overall US population aged 18 and above, with married couples dropping from 57% to 52% over those nine years.

Full story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/29/fewer-young-americans-married

Right-wingers: "It's all the fault of those radical, anti-family, perverted, deviant HOMOSEXUALS with their GAY AGENDA!!!!!! discouraging the sacred institution of marriage!"
Rationally: Wouldn't allowing same-sex marriage sort of boot up the marriage rate somehow? And this article reports:

The authors of the report, Mark Mather and Diana Lavery, put the recent drop in marital rates down to the economic collapse of 2008.

They suggest that young couples are delaying tying the knot or even putting it off entirely as a result of economic distress. The costs of the ceremony, combined with the longer-term expense associated with setting up home and having children, appears to be turning them off the idea.

Instead, cohabitation is becoming more prevalent as an American way of life.

And some state-by-state trends:

In Michigan, for instance, the marriage rate fell by 9%, less than the national average, despite the fact that this rust-belt state has suffered hugely from manufacturing decline leading to one of the highest unemployment levels in the US.

North-eastern states, such as New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, experienced the largest decreases in marriage whereas in the midwest and around the Rockies the institution held relatively steady.

Notice that NH and VT recently passed same-sex marriage. Most Midwest and Rocky Mountain states are at a completely opposite status though. But correlation doesn't imply causation...the study doesn't imply that those young couples avoid marriage altogether.

And finally at city level:

At city level, Cleveland and New Orleans had the lowest proportion of young married couples, at less than 20% – not wholly surprising given that both have a reputation for being liberal and convention breaking.

[AngryAmish]

1. There are fewer marriagable men out there

More felons, fewer college graduates. Very hard to support a family on $10 an hour.

[Not Me]

2. This trends with what has been happening in Europe for some time.

We have some friends in France, and they say few people are choosing to get married.
Apparently, the tax structure doesn't make a difference as it does here.

[Rochester]

3. Always pleased to help annoy the Right

...as I wouldn't get married if my life depended on it.

[SoCalDem]

4. Not much fun being married if you are $40K in debt for college, live w/ parents & have a $10hr job

This is a reality that many young people face now..

Just the other night, I was talking to a friend of mine whose daughter, husband & their twin 3 yr olds are living with them..

The father had retired, but went back to work just to help support the extra people they now support.. Their daughter is 25 and her husband's 24. They had no medical insurance when the twins were born. They have never owned a car or have ever had their own place. He has a high school diploma..she got her GED, but has never had a real job that paid enough to live on.

Our friends have two choices..

1. throw them out & hope they manage
2. let them stay "at home" until the kids are at least in school, and support them

(the young husband has a job, but he commutes 2 hours a day on the train and does not clear enough for them to live on or make enough for them to live close to his job)

[tammywammy]

5. I'm 30, and there's a few married couples

But the rest of my friends (again, in their late 20s/early 30s) are not married and don't seem to have any intention on getting married (and that includes me).

At the same time, I'm the spinster in my family. I'm the oldest grandchild that's not married (this is not including my older brother that's divorced). I've been the oldest non-married grandchild since I was 25 I think. I know some of my cousin's think it's strange, but I don't really care. :)