Posted on 01/16/2007 7:21:43 PM PST by kiriath_jearim
Marriage is no longer the natural state for most American women, according to figures published yesterday.
While popular culture — from Little House On The Prairie to The Simpsons — has long portrayed the married couple as the cornerstone of the American social unit, the reality is increasingly different.
For what experts say is the first time, more American women are now living without a husband than with one. In 2005, 51 per cent of women told the national census they were living without a spouse, up from 35 per cent in 1950 and 49 per cent in 2000, according to an analysis by the New York Times.
Married couples in 2005 became a minority of all households for the first time.
These figures are likely to lead to radical changes in the way the US government frames its social and employment policies.
The change has been driven by several factors. Women are marrying later or living with unmarried partners more often and for longer periods.
At the other end of the age spectrum, women are living longer as widows and, after a divorce, are more likely than men to delay marrying again.
The figures are skewed by racial considerations. Only about 30 per cent of black women are living with a spouse, compared with about 49 per cent of Hispanic women, 55 per cent of non-Hispanic white women and 60 per cent of Asian women.
William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution, a research group in Washington, described the shift as "a clear tipping point".
He said: "This reflects the culmination of post-1960 trends associated with greater independence and more flexible lifestyles for women. For better or worse, women are less dependent on men or the institution of marriage."
All the free women are going to cost us a lot as we move into the future.
Dem culture is utterly disfunctional. They will make the state their sugar daddy for two generations, then there won't be much of a third. Then we won't have a democracy, or a country, pretty much.
I wonder if he even caught the pun he made?
Good work feminazis and leftists (redundant)!! Children being raised in single parent homes are the ones getting the short end of the stick. Our social values have been so screwed up ever since the assault on marriage began that it is unlikely that America will return to a nation of family values in the forseeable future.
The assualt on marriage and family values coincides with the assualt on Christianity and the assault on patriotism.
It is absolutely true that "As ye sow, so shall ye reap!"
I'm only 53. In my time the country has been turned inside out and upside down. But the most amazing thing to me is nobody seems to have noticed it happened. People seem to have forgotten what the country was like even 30 years ago.
This lifestyle (chosen or otherwise) and others like it has created more jihadis than George W. Bush ever could (unless W. pushed the button to nuke Mecca or the like).
Note, however, that this figure is based on all "women" of 15 and up. Since very few women are married at 15-19, and there are vast numbers of elderly widows, the proportion married in the "marriageable ages" of, say, 22-75, is still way over 50%. There is no doubt that it has been falling, but it is not quite as bad as the 49% number implies without reading the fine print.
This story leaves out age - heck everyone knows there are more old women in nursing homes by a factor of 20 to 1; add to that the widows still in their homes and you have another 10 to 1 statistic. The news story makes out that the world is full of young women who are raising kids - without a man...more junk science.
"More flexible lifestyles for women" - hey, it's good enough for Condi Rice.
Note, however, that this figure is based on all "women" of 15 and up. Since very few women are married at 15-19, and there are vast numbers of elderly widows, the proportion married in the "marriageable ages" of, say, 22-75, is still way over 50%. There is no doubt that it has been falling, but it is not quite as bad as the 49% number implies without reading the fine print.
Looks like the Marriage Strike is working fellas. Keep up the good work.
Bachelor for life!!!!!
I'm only 53. In my time the country has been turned inside out and upside down. But the most amazing thing to me is nobody seems to have noticed it happened. People seem to have forgotten what the country was like even 30 years ago.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I am 62, I feel as though I am living on a different planet. I grew up on a tiny farm and literally walked behind a mule until I was 18. I carried a pocket knife in grammar school as did almost all the boys and the teacher would borrow a knife from one of us if she needed one. During final exams in high school we would leave early if we had no late exams and hitchhike home from school. Can you imagine such things happening today? If someone allowed his son to do the kind of jobs that I used to do everyday on the farm as a child the state would take the boy away from his parents and probably imprison them for "child endangerment". I don't know how most of us survived to see 18. There really is no resemblance between then and now. Sixteen year old students used to drive the school buses! Now most twenty six year olds act like children.
speaking as someone who had a 20 yr. happy marriage until her husband turned into a raving lunatic I have to say that I am grateful that I live in a country where I DONT HAVE to put up with the tyranny that some men tend to want to inflict on their wives. Not to mention the work load and the unappreciation and the controlling behavior.
we can blame women for this or we can also accept that behind every one of these women who want to be single is usually a shortage of decent men.
now where is the study that tries to figure out where all the good men have gone?
It's interesting that the article doesn't note that men are also less dependent on the institution of marriage than they were once upon a time. As women used to depend on their husbands' incomes, men used to depend on their wives to cook, do laundry, do the marketing, take care of the children and do the housekeeping. Sometimes they needed a wife to help them run a farm.
There has a been a revolution in laundry alone that makes it 100% easier for a guy to take care of his own laundry. With washers and dryers and wash and wear clothes there is no need to boil linens, scrub clothes in tubs, apply starch and iron, or hang clothes outside to dry. It simply doesn't require someone to spend hours doing it anymore.
We've seen similar changes in technology and culture in regard to all the other tasks I mentioned. In every case, the individual no longer has to depend on a person in their family, or even in their community. They can depend on anonymous service and product suppliers. This seems to be the irrestible direction of our society. Everyone applauds each little declaration of independence, such as replacing tellers with ATMs and grocery store clerks with automatic check out stations.
It's foolish to think that practical developments like this haven't had a tremendous effect on gender roles, and on family relationships.
"People seem to have forgotten what the country was like even 30 years ago."
By 30 years ago the country was allready headed for 3rd world statis.
You missed the good years 50-60 years ago.
It's one of those "you had to be there" things.
I share your generational age group (born in the 50s) but what do you/we really know about life in the 1920s? Also take into consideration current wiggy demographics.
And then there is always the Beloit College Mindset List:
1. Ricky Nelson, Richard Burton, Samantha Smith, Laura Ashley, Orson Welles, Karen Ann Quinlan, Benigno Aquino, and the U.S. Football League have always been dead.
2. They are not familiar with the source of that “Giant Sucking Sound.”
3. Iraq has always been a problem.
4. “Ctrl + Alt + Del” is as basic as “ABC.”
5. Paul Newman has always made salad dressing.
6. Pete Rose has always been a gambler.
7. Bert and Ernie are old enough to be their parents.
8. An automatic is a weapon, not a transmission.
9. Russian leaders have always looked like leaders everyplace else.
10. The snail darter has never been endangered.
11. There has always been a screening test for AIDS.
12. Gas has always been unleaded.
13. They never heard Howard Cosell call a game on ABC.
14. The United States has always had a Poet Laureate
15. Garrison Keillor has always been live on public radio and Lawrence Welk has always been dead on public television.
16. Their families drove SUVs without “being fuelish.”
17. There has always been some association between fried eggs and your brain.
18. They would never leave their calling card on someone’s desk.
19. They have never been able to find the “return” key.
20. Computers have always fit in their backpacks.
21. Datsuns have never been made.
22. They have never gotten excited over a telegram, a long distance call, or a fax.
23. The Osmonds are just talk show hosts.
24. Undergraduate college athletes have always been a part of the NBA and NFL draft.
25. They have always “grazed” for food.
26. Three-point shots from “downtown” have always been a part of basketball.
27. Test tube babies are now having their own babies.
28. Stores have always had scanners at the checkout.
29. The Army has always driven Humvees.
30. Adam and PC Junior computers had vanished from the market before this generation went online.
31. The Statue of Liberty has always had a gleaming torch.
32. They have always had a PIN number.
33. Banana Republic has always been a store, not a puppet government in Latin America.
34. Car detailing has always been available.
35. Directory assistance has never been free.
36. The Jaycees have always welcomed women as members.
37. There has always been Lean Cuisine.
38. They have always been able to fly Virgin Atlantic.
39. There have never been dress codes in restaurants.
40. Doctors have always had to deal with “reasonable and customary fees” and patients have always had controls placed on the number of days they could stay in a hospital.
41. They have always been able to make photocopies at home.
42. Michael Eisner has always been in charge of Disney.
43. They have always been able to make phone calls from planes.
44. Yuppies are almost as old as hippies.
45. Rupert Murdoch has always been an American citizen.
46. Strawberry Fields has always been in New York.
47. Rock and Roll has always been a force for social good.
48. Killer bees have always been swarming in the U.S.
49. They have never seen a First Lady in a fur coat.
50. Don Imus has always been offending someone in his national audience.
And on the Class of 2007's account::
In all fairness it should be understood that students entering college this fall do have a few items on their own lists that will separate them from many of their mentors:
1. For many of them today, it’s all about the “bling, bling.”
2. They know who the “heroes in a half shell” are.
3. Peeps are not a candy, they are your friends.
4. They have been “dissing”and “burning” things all their lives.
5. They can expect to get a ticket for “ricing out their wheels.”
6. They knew how to pop a Popple and trade a Pog.
7. They can still sing the rap chorus to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the theme song from Duck Tales.
That's All Folks!
Isn't that the truth. Most women want their marriages to work. We try to make it work out. Men don't realize it, but when they give sacrificial love, their women will follow them anywhere. With few exceptions, men have great control over how the marriage turns out. I think that many men want the perks of being the leader of the family without the willingness to be responsive to providing what their families need.
I hope it doesn't sound like I'm criticizing men. I feel compassion for them because they have so much pressure from so many different sources. I just wish they would realize how much their families need their loving support.
Everywhere else, they cost money.
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