Marriage and Family Trends

• Current trends cited by the Pew Research Center indicate trends in marriage and family.

Breadwinner Moms

• 40% of households with children under 18 have mothers as the primary income source, the share was 11% in 1960.

Parenthood

• Parental roles have shifted, with dads doing more housework and childcare, and moms doing more paid work.
• Roles are converging, but neither has overtaken the other's traditional realms.

Marriage Rate

• The marriage rate has declined and marriage age has risen, barely half of U.S. adults are married, continuing a downward trend.
• The median age at first marriage for men and women has never been higher.

Public Opinion

• The American public is divided on changes in family structure: about a third accept changes, a third are tolerant but skeptical, and a third view changes negatively.

Family Structure

• Over 40% of American adults have a step relative in their family.
• There is a decline in traditional marriage and a rise in new family arrangements.
• The traditional family unit is no longer the only prevalent model.

College Marriage Gap

• The college marriage gap has reversed, with college-educated young adults now more likely to be married by 30 than those without a bachelor's degree.

Expert Opinions

• Despite negative statistics, some professionals see marriage and family in a state of transition rather than decline
• The ability of the family to adapt to changing times is considered a key characteristic

Cohabitation Trends

• There's a decline in the percentage of those who are married, an increase in delaying marriage, an increase in never-married individuals, and more couples choosing to cohabit.
• More adults are delaying or foregoing marriage, while cohabitation has increased.
• Most Americans find cohabitation acceptable, but a narrow majority still believes society benefits if long-term partnerships lead to marriage.

Pew Research Center Findings

• The percentage of U.S. adults who are currently married has declined modestly in recent decades, from 58% in 1995 to 53% today.
• The percentage of adults living with an unmarried partner has risen from 3% to 7% over the same period.
• 59% of Americans have ever cohabited, while 50% have ever been married
• Older adults are more likely to see societal benefits in marriage
• There are higher levels of trust and satisfaction among married than cohabiting adults
• Love and companionship are among the top reasons for marriage and cohabitation
• Non-engaged cohabiters with no college experience are less likely to see cohabitation as a step toward marriage
• Most adults younger than 30 say couples who live together first are more likely to have a successful marriage
• About 6-in-10 say cohabiting couples can raise children just as well as married couples.

Marriage Age

• Individuals are delaying marriage until their late 20s, current stats indicate the median age for first marriage is 28.4 years for men and 26.5 years for women, the oldest in U.S. history
• In 1960, the median age for a first marriage was 22.8 years for men and 20.3 years for women

Divorce and Remarriage

• In Western cultures, more than 90% of people marry by age 50, but about 40% to 50% of married couples in the United States divorce.
• People who divorce eventually remarry.
• Increased divorce rates and declining remarriage rates have led to a higher percentage of divorced adults in the country.
• The percentage of divorced people is higher for females than for males, because divorced men are more likely to remarry and tend to do so sooner.
• The chances of divorce for first marriages remain high, between 40% and 50%, with variations among different segments of the population, but these differences are diminishing.

Factors in Divorce

• Many people enter marriage with unrealistic expectations or marry the wrong person for the wrong reasons
• Marriage is challenging and requires effort to maintain.

Remarriage Details

• Remarriage occurs when a previously married person remarries
• The majority of recent marriages are first marriages for both partners although divorce rates are higher in the U.S. compared with European nations, and remarried adults are more likely to divorce than those in their first marriage

Highlight of the American Community Survey on Marital History

• About half of all men (50%) and women (54%) aged 15 and over had married only once
• The proportion of adults that had married only once has decreased since 1996
• Between 2008 and 2012, the share of those that had married twice or three or more times increased only for women aged 50 and older and men aged 60 and older
• Non-Hispanic white men and women are most likely to have married three or more times, while Asian men and women in the United States are the least likely
• Those with at least a bachelor's degree are more likely to have married only once (64%) than all adults (52%)
• The majority of recent marriages (58%) are first marriages for both spouses, although 21% of recent marriages involve both spouses marrying for at least the second time
• States with a lower share of ever-married adults who had remarried are concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest, while Southern and Western states generally have a higher share.

Remarriage Report

• Remarriages have always existed in the United States, and formerly resulted from death but, remarriage was more likely to follow widowhood than divorce until 1920s.
• Remarriage showed higher divorce rate compared to first marriage

Causes for Second Marriage Divorce

• The presence of children from a previous relationship contribute to the failure of a second marriage
• Failed remarriage in communities with higher poverty rates, low median family income, and a low proportion of college-educated residents

Changes in Family Structure

• Family structure is becoming more complex through divorce and remarriage, creating new kinship relationships and more varied than ever before.

Family Variations

• There are stepfamilies, same-sex parents and couples, child-free couples, grandparents raising grandchildren, surrogate parents, foster care families, families with disabled parents and children, and a variety of informal family arrangements.

Family Structure Trends

• Women are more likely now to become mothers than they were a decade ago, with highly educated women experiencing dramatic increases in motherhood.
• Women are becoming mothers later in life, with the median age at motherhood rising from 23 in 1994 to 26.
• Childlessness among women nearing the end of childbearing years is relatively high in the United States.
• Mothers spend more time in the labor force and in childcare, with Dads, too, are spending more time on child care, and also providing unpaid care for another adult, such as a grandparent.
• While 68% of mothers in the United States are married, 24% are single mothers
• Stay-at-home moms and dads account for almost one-in-five parents.
• Sixty-nine percent of America's children live in families with two parents, compared to 93% in 1950.
• White householders make up 79% of all households in the United States down from 89% in 1970, Black and Hispanic householders each make up 13% of households, while Asian householders comprise 5%
• Households have grown smaller over time, reflecting the decrease in family size and the rise of living alone.

Household Sizes

• The average number of people living in each household has declined from 3.3 people in 1960 to 2.5 today
• Today 28% of households have just one person living in them, a growth from 13% in 1960.

Continuity in Marriage

• Despite changes, marriage and family remain stable institutions: most people want to marry and see it as a lifelong commitment.
• Couples want egalitarian relationships where responsibilities are divided fairly.
• Most couples want children, and parenthood is an important goal.
• Parents want their children to have a good education and to be at least as successful as they are.
• Family members have a commitment to each other and an emotional connection.
• Families share a value system and offer a support system.
• Ongoing commitment and connection between parents and their children, joint custody is especially true.

Significance

• Marriage and family provide significant continuity in society, though problems can overshadow the stability these relationships offer.