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US marriages slump to record low
BBC News ^ | 14 December 2011

Posted on 12/14/2011 7:49:41 PM PST by MinorityRepublican

Where are Mr and Mrs Right?

Barely half of Americans - a record low - are currently married, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census data.

Just 51% of adult Americans are married, compared with 72% in 1960.

The median age of first marriage has also hit a new high, of 26.5 for brides and 28.7 for grooms.

Pew said the number of adults co-habitating, single-person households and single parents had meanwhile increased in recent decades.

The study found that 20% of adults today aged 18 to 29 are married, compared with 59% in 1960.

It is unclear whether they are delaying matrimony or abandoning it altogether.

The analysis also found the number of new marriages in the US had declined by five percentage points between 2009-10.

This may not necessarily have been caused by the economic downturn, since a similar trend has continued in Europe regardless of business cycles.

Pew, a nonpartisan think tank and polling organisation, found the percentage of those Americans who have been married at least once had declined as well - 72% in 2010, from 85% in 1960.

If the trend persists, in a few years less than half of Americans will be married, Pew said.

While Pew did not study reasons for the trend, it noted that the marriage rate for college-educated adults declined "far less" than among the less-educated.

A Pew survey in 2010 found that four out of 10 Americans believed marriage was becoming obsolete, but that 61% people who had never married would like to do so someday.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: marriage
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1 posted on 12/14/2011 7:49:43 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican
Our society is going in the wrong direction in so many ways.

This pleases the Democrats very much.

2 posted on 12/14/2011 7:59:09 PM PST by ClearCase_guy (Nothing will change until after the war. It's coming.)
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To: MinorityRepublican
Where are Mr and Mrs Right?

they became Mr and Ms Right now.
3 posted on 12/14/2011 8:00:56 PM PST by stylin19a (obama - "FREDO" smart)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Been married just once - have been with the same woman for 31 years. I’m now a minority. Is there a line I can get in to get free stuff?/s


4 posted on 12/14/2011 8:01:40 PM PST by SoldierDad (Proud dad of an Army Soldier currently deployed in the Valley of Death, Afghanistan)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Counterfeit marriage, and then who would want it?


5 posted on 12/14/2011 8:09:52 PM PST by fwdude
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To: MinorityRepublican

men no longer have to get married to have ‘regular’ (or perception thereof that they might have—haha) sex. most girls and women are trash giving it all away and the men don’t have to do anything to get it. Why bother with marriage until they might want a kid.


6 posted on 12/14/2011 8:10:41 PM PST by GOP Poet (Time for Bambi and his commie crew to go.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Don’t blame Gingrich ... he’s had 3!


7 posted on 12/14/2011 8:13:07 PM PST by Lorianne
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To: MinorityRepublican

The mess that was started in the Black community is now spreading to the rest of America.


8 posted on 12/14/2011 8:13:51 PM PST by Clock King (Ellisworth Toohey was right: My head's gonna explode.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

That’s because under the Regime only queer marriages are being promoted


9 posted on 12/14/2011 8:14:06 PM PST by GrandJediMasterYoda (Nancy Pelosi - The #1 reason why we need a Constitutional amendment for Congressional drug testing.)
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To: SoldierDad

Go for 57. It gets better and better and it was better to start with!


10 posted on 12/14/2011 8:14:21 PM PST by SootyFoot2
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To: SoldierDad

Go for 57. It gets better and better and it was better to start with!


11 posted on 12/14/2011 8:14:43 PM PST by SootyFoot2
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To: MinorityRepublican

Continued attack on the family from the left. Their Communist Manifesto trumps the form of society that actually works—the one with strong and stable traditional families.


12 posted on 12/14/2011 8:17:07 PM PST by Olog-hai
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To: MinorityRepublican

The left has turned marriage into a wealth transfer program rather than a declaration of love.


13 posted on 12/14/2011 8:19:05 PM PST by NorthStarStateConservative
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To: MinorityRepublican
the marriage rate for college-educated adults declined "far less" than among the less-educated

It is easier to get "free stuff" if you are poor with few prospects and "single." Married couples with two low incomes can find it a lot harder to qualify for assistance. Being poor and unmarried, especially with children, is rewarded by the state.

14 posted on 12/14/2011 8:19:52 PM PST by informavoracious
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To: MinorityRepublican

Funny that this was reported on an NPR piece and now BBC (which are one in the same). I’m sure the proggies are delighted.


15 posted on 12/14/2011 8:25:00 PM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear (A MUST WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KeOLurcQaqI)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Today THE worst financial decision a single male can make is to sign a marriage contract without a pre-nuptual; especially in California! The decline of marriage trend is a direct reflection of progressives controlling the financial neutering of males, and the younger generation realizing that there is no cultural incentive for males to marry the modern female whatsoever. Women have more cultural incentives to divorce and receive alimony than to stay married. The only reason why this statistic is not lower is because lesbians and gays ARE getting married, and this trend will continue UNTIL the courts figure out which ‘partner’ within gay marriage IS the MALE figure (regardless of gender) in the relationship, and that group will eventually be financially ruined and punished through ‘gaylamony’ support to the ‘female’ (regardless of gender). I repeat; marriage is the single worse financial decision any male (regardless of gender) can make in their lifetimes.


16 posted on 12/14/2011 8:27:57 PM PST by goron (communism)
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To: SoldierDad

I have been married to the same wonderful man 33 years, I think there should be a free tax year! LOL


17 posted on 12/14/2011 8:30:38 PM PST by ConfidentConservative (I think, therefore I am conservative.)
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To: NorthStarStateConservative

“The left has turned marriage into a wealth transfer program rather than a declaration of love.”

Absolutely; could you guess what gender the majority of the 61% that haven’t been married are? Some guys might be slow, but apparently even they’ve gotten the word.


18 posted on 12/14/2011 8:34:48 PM PST by kearnyirish2
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To: goron
oh yeah, high maintenance MTV girls that leave at the drop of a hat and prevent you from seeing your own children... whats not to love??? or am i too cynical in my old age
19 posted on 12/14/2011 8:35:55 PM PST by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Obviously they are not counting gays or those through surgery and hormones convince themselves their sex has been changed.


20 posted on 12/14/2011 8:39:04 PM PST by quantim (Victory is not relative, it is absolute.)
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