As the definition of marriage changes, so do people’s thoughts on whether or not it’s
something they actually want for their future.
Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews - and it should be obvious by now, that gender roles have
been drastically changing the past few decades.
We have more working mothers, more stay-at-home dads, and according to a new study - people
are getting married later and later.
Since 1970, every new generation of young adults has become less and less likely to
get married.
In 1960, only 8% of women and 10% of men over the age of 25, had never been married.
But in 2012, those numbers rose to 17% of women and 23% of men.
So what’s going on here?
Are people just get married later?
Well, that’s definitely part of it.
But it’s not the entire reason.
The Pew Research Center, which published this report last week, projects that a quarter
of today’s young adults still won’t be married by the year 2030 - making it the highest
number in modern history.
A lot of the blame seems to fall on the socioeconomic gap that’s widening here in America.
According to Pew’s research, educated, high-income people are still marrying at high rates and
continuing to stay married.
For the most part, it’s the low-income people, as well as blacks and the young - that are
actively choosing to forgo marriage.
At least part of that, can be attributed to unemployment rates.
The number of unemployed men ages 24-54 has been steadily increasing over the past 50
years.
And yet 78% of unmarried women, still say that a steady job is the single most important
quality a spouse can have.
Black women in particular, place an even higher importance on marrying someone employed.
But as I said before, economic differences aside - gender roles do still have a lot to
do with it.
In his 1974 piece “A Theory of Marriage,” Nobel-winning economist Gary Becker explains
how up until the 1970s, marriage was mostly an economic equation.
Men went to work to earn money, so they could support a family, while their wife ran the
household.
But as author and historian Stephanie Coontz points out, in the modern era - with the rise
of technology, birth control, and higher numbers of women entering the workforce - marriage
has transitioned.
It’s less about economics now, and more about actual love.
Of course, nowadays even the definition of love can be nebulous.
So as people continue to place less of an emphasis on marriage, maybe it’s time our
nation’s policies thought about changing, too.
What do you guys think?
Especially you young folk out there - do you see marriage as a necessary part of your future?
Let us know in the comments below - and as always, thank you guys for watching!