Here's a link directly to the Pew study which there have been so many newspaper stories about today. In one sense, it isn't news: marriage is at a record low, but it's been steadily declining for 50 years, mostly from increased age at first marriage, much more than from any abandonment of the idea of marriage. And therefore it has ALWAYS been at a record low, at any given time during its 50-year decline.
The study has many other interesting facts about particular demographic groups, including that the decline is mostly among less-educated people, and is worldwide including less-developed countries.
Barely Half of U.S. Adults Are Married – A Record Low:
New Marriages Down 5% from 2009 to 2010
by D’Vera Cohn, Jeffrey Passel and Wendy Wang
Its the same here in the UK without a doubt the politicians need to do some thing to encourage marriage if not for the sake of giving unwed mothers some rights. The argument of giving cohabitees more rights does not work in my view as the institution of marriage exists already.
Posted by: Mark Keenan | December 16, 2011 at 08:04 AM