PrintNovember 17, 2010
Graph for the Day for November 17, 2010
Can Marriage Recover from the Assault of Radical Individualism?
Married couple households are now less than half of households in the U.S.
"The Congress makes the following findings: (1) Marriage is the foundation of a successful society. (2) Marriage is an essential institution of a successful society which promotes the interests of children. (3) Promotion of responsible fatherhood and motherhood is integral to successful child rearing and the well-being of children."
- Public Law 104-193: Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
" . . . changes in American marriage and family structure since the 1960s have decreased the mean level of child well-being in the population, lowered the well-being of many adults, increased child poverty, and placed a large financial burden on our society."[1]
- Paul Amato (Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Demography, Pennsylvania State University)
Index of Change in Household Composition - 1950 to 2010 :
Decrease in percent of married couples, 1950 to 1970: 7.6 percentage points
Decrease in percent of married couples, 1970 to 1990: 14.6 percentage points
Decrease in percent of married couples, 1990 to 2010: 6.3 percentage points
[1] Amato, Paul R., " Recent Changes in Family Structure, Implications for Children, Adults, and Society," NHMRC Brief, April 2008. http://www.healthymarriageinfo.org/docs/changefamstructure.pdf
Janice Shaw Crouse, Ph.D., author of Children at Risk (Transaction, 2010), is Senior Fellow, The Beverly LaHaye Institute, Concerned Women for America.
