Marriage obsolete? I don’t think so.
Last week we all heard all over the news a study conducted that states “40% believe marriage is becoming obsolete.” The Pew Research Center polled 2,691 adults last month and 30% believe marriage is on its way out of style. Up 11 points since 1978 when Time magazine conducted the same survey.
It’s no surprise to me to hear these numbers. The state of marriage, the value of commitment and monogamy, and the respect for the traditional family has been degraded, devalued, and discouraged for the past thirty years easily. Hmm, what other big thing came from the seventies? Feminism. Yes, with women’s liberation the value of the man unfortunately plummeted. Who needs a man around when you can sleep around, have a baby out of wedlock, and bring home the bacon. Divorce has risen but worse yet, the number of women deciding to have a baby alone rose more than 30%. What once was taboo when Murphy Brown gave birth as a single mother on TV, is now an accepted norm. Liberation for women has destroyed the family in America. Or has it?
The interesting thing among this study is that the college educated still choose marriage by 64%. In light showing the more sophisticated you are, you believe in the value of mating for life. Financially marriage is sound. Being a single mother especially a young one is almost a destiny with poverty.
It is true that we are waiting longer to walk down the isle.The average age for men getting married in 2010 was 28.2 and 26.1 for women, according to Census. I see this a smart planning. Why not work in your career, save some money, and figure out who you are before you take the plunge. Unfortunately cohabitation has nearly doubled since 1990. Pew found 44% of adults have lived together.
In my world of happy housewives most of the women I interact with believe in the tradition of marriage and all that goes with it. It has been said that I am a bit old fashioned and holding on to the days of Leave It To Beaver, but I say we could all use a little bit of yester-year.
And even if four out of ten people told this Pew surveyor that they believe marriage is not needed today, deep down each of them would rather be married I would bet. What single mother wouldn’t rather have a great husband? I would argue that if this researcher had asked these people if they met their soul mate, the love of their lives, would they rather be married or just live together, 9 out of 10 would say yes.
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