Report Outline
Special Focus
Introduction
Americans aren't as devoted to marriage as they used to be. People are getting married later—or not at all. Cohabitation is no longer considered deviant behavior. The divorce rate remains high. The proportion of out-of-wedlock births is up significantly. In spite of it all, most Americans still get married, and the institution of marriage survives. But experts are worried about the many children growing up in fatherless families.
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Overview
Love and marriage. They go together, the 1950s song said, like a horse and carriage. And in the '50s, they actually did. But in 1990, after three decades of profound social change, the venerable institution of marriage no longer seems quite so inevitable. While there's little chance it will end up like the horse-drawn carriage, a relic in a museum, marriage clearly doesn't have the same hold on America that it once did. In fact, some people have even begun to speak of a “postmarital society.”
“[G]etting married, having children and staying married are now matters of choice, rather than things taken for granted,” say sociologists Robert N. Bellah, Richard Madsen, William M. Sullivan, Ann Swidler and Steven M. Tipton in their book, Habits of the Heart. “[This] creates a new atmosphere for marriage and a new meaning for family life.” |
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Marriage, Divorce, and Single Parents |
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Dec. 01, 2017 |
Future of Marriage |
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May 07, 2004 |
Future of Marriage |
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Jan. 19, 2001 |
Children and Divorce |
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Jun. 02, 2000 |
Fatherhood Movement |
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May 10, 1996 |
Marriage and Divorce |
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Jan. 13, 1995 |
Child Custody and Support |
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Jun. 07, 1991 |
Children and Divorce |
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Oct. 26, 1990 |
Child Support: Payments, Progress and Problems |
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Jul. 06, 1990 |
Are Americans Still in Love with Marriage? |
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Feb. 03, 1989 |
Joint Custody: Is it Good for the Children? |
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Mar. 12, 1982 |
Trends in Child Custody and Support |
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Jun. 03, 1977 |
The Changing American Family |
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Sep. 10, 1976 |
Single-Parent Families |
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Jan. 25, 1974 |
Child Support |
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Oct. 10, 1973 |
No-Fault Divorce |
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Oct. 06, 1971 |
Marriage: Changing Institution |
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Nov. 27, 1963 |
Divorce Law Reform |
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May 24, 1961 |
Mixed Marriage |
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Apr. 20, 1959 |
Rise in Illegitimacy |
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Feb. 02, 1949 |
Marriage and Divorce |
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