world

4 in 10 say marriage is becoming obsolete in U.S.

20 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

20 Comments
Login to comment

I agree that the legal and religious components of marriage are unnecessary. If people still want to go and have a ceremony to mark a kind of union then all the power to them. Whether or not they get married (in any sense of the word) will not effect their feelings toward family -- unless they feel constrained by the legal binds (in which case, again, if that's the only reason then there's no point).

Look at Japanese weddings; the only thing that really says 'you are married' is when they register it at City Hall. The ceremonies, in particular 'chapel' weddings, are just for fun.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Look at Japanese weddings; the only thing that really says 'you are married' is when they register it at City Hall." stamp, stamp, stamp.... and a mean face at that.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I once heard bill cosby on a show and he did a study of guys in prison. He said that 80% of the guys in the joint, were raised by a single parent. If marriage is going to go away, I sure hope people take responsibility when they have kids

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This study seems a bit convoluted. Yes, there are many different definitions of a family and all can be quite valid. This includes single parent families and other forms. However, to take acceptance of this fact and translate it claiming people don't think marriage is as important might be a stretch. Of course, marriage will not dominate the lives of a single parent family. How could it? There is no marriage involved anymore.

In other words it seems the study is mixing opinions about marriage with those about what constitutes a family.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Just my opinion but marriage is definitely important when children are born from the couple. No matter what when a man and woman have a biological child between them it automatically creates life-time bond and thoroughly solidifies family ties between them all through blood. Being raised in a single parent home myself I understand that if 2 people are married but don't have children that marriage may mean nothing to them, but toss the same question at a married couple that do have biological children together I'm pretty sure it would be very different.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Uh-huh. And when the unemployment bennies stop, who do you turn to? Dems want the gubmint to be yo daddy. But daddy is flat busted.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

" But daddy is flat busted."

Heh, time for more tax cuts for the rich. That's sure to help. And maybe another war.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Heh, time for more tax cuts for the rich. That's sure to help.

Obama had super majorities to help repeal the Bush tax cuts. Now that he will back down I do believe we will see him try and refashion himself yet again, this time as a pro-growth Democrat, pointing his finger in the air and telling us he is "just like John F Kennedy, and let me be clear folks, a rising tide,well, it will lift all boats."

But you don't even know the first thing about US taxes, so the JFK reference is lost.

And maybe another war.

One for oil ! don't forget - like the last two supposedly were...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

" like the last two supposedly were.."

An embarassment, a shellacking even, by a third-world insurgency. But you're so high on the elections Old Friend, that I don't expect to see any "sense" from you until the impatient electorate start hammering the repubs for their inaction on the economy. No matter what you'll be calling yourself when that time comes, I'll be here to remind you what you wrote. That's what friends are for.

Though it doesn't have a lot to do with marriage becoming obsolete in the US. Heh, if only the flat-earthers would stop denying gays equal rights -perhpas the stats would be different.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Growing up I had a lot of friends that were either raised by a single parent or their parents split when they were young. Most of them hated the situation or maintained a lingering resentment towards one or both parents and a few had very...unproductive relationships with their parent's live in partners or the steady stream of deadbeat men that came with it. Knowing my parents were married gave me a certain sense of stability even when the marriage itself wasn't going so well. Marriage is a symbol of commitment, without it you just have two people living together. I don't know, it just seems less somehow.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Officials say such a move will reduce the number of families and children who are considered poor based on the new supplemental measure, which will be used as a guide for federal and state agencies to set anti-poverty policies."

I believe this is the whole point of the article. The headline should read: "Government using bogus research to justify fixing statistics in order to look less incompetent".

All that while this is happening: "Some 15 percent of US households, 17.4 million families or about 50 million people, were too poor to buy adequate food last year, according to a new report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). More than a third of these households, with as many as one million children, were missing meals on a regular basis, the study found."

0 ( +0 / -0 )

A child doesn't care about marriage. All a child cares about is having both parents physically and emotionally present, nurturing, attentive to their needs/feelings, and the ability to help guide and support them through the stages of life development.

I would rather have a mother and father that are not married but have the above qualities, than a mother and father that are married but are dysfunctional, abusive, and abandoning.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Nicely put Medievaltimes.

I agree with you completely.

Taka

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I will never get married again.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

meh! most people who live together without getting married don't do it because they think it's a just an outdated meaningless gesture. they do it because deep down they don't want to take decisive action. it's just more emerging adulthood. a kid of refusal to grow up.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"9 in 10 Americans say they will share a Traditional Thanksgiving meal next week with family, sitting at a table with 12 people on average"

In my case it will be two people.

I also agree with medievaltimes. But still, the decline of traditional marriage has taken a heavy toll on society.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Except in the case of an abusive parent or spouse of course, I think that for a child it is important that parents have a committed relationship and not just live together. For a couple that is living together, there really isn't any significant tie that can help during the ups and downs and difficult times during a long relationship. Sometimes love just isn't enough. Many people stay married not only for the sake of their children but for fear of failing their marriage.

On the other hand, the meaning of marriage and family has been so diluted in modern culture that the level of overall instability in the lives of children has risen significantly. So much instability makes it extremely difficult to grow up with a balanced framework for dealing with life as an adult. Divorce is so much easier then in the past and moral and community standards are so much lower that even those kids in a stable two parent situation will likely have more than a few friends with a single parent, or two Daddy's, or even live with their grand-parents or other relatives.

The results of this study correlate with the decline of American society. People look to the government for guidance and assistance because religion, marriage, and family is not as important anymore. As a result, children grow up to be adults with a lessened ability to establish and maintain the relationships that they need to sustain themselves throughout their life.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think that for a child it is important that parents have a committed relationship and not just live together. For a couple that is living together, there really isn't any significant tie that can help during the ups and downs and difficult times during a long relationship. Sometimes love just isn't enough. Many people stay married not only for the sake of their children but for fear of failing their marriage.

It is possible to have a committed relationship without being married.

It is possilbe to have a "significant tie" without being married.

Many people stay together not only for the sake of their children but for fear of failing their relationship.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

medievaltimes:

It is possible to have a committed relationship without being married. It is possilbe to have a "significant tie" without being married. Many people stay together not only for the sake of their children but for fear of failing their relationship.

Yes, this is very true. However, without marriage it is much less likely for a couple to remain together over the long term; and much more likely to have many more short-term relationships than those that are married.

Historically, marriage has provided the strong social environment for raising children and developing healthy relationships within and outside of families. The decline in the importance of marriage has resulted in huge social problems that are harmful to society.

It is true that the rules for marriage are very much arbitrary. If the government recognizes gay marriage this fact will not be any less true. For example, marriage will still be illegal for bi-sexuals who want to be in committed relationships with their significant "others". It simply means that more exceptions will be demanded in the future and there will be no rationle for making such limitations. Therefore, marriage is devalued and nothing special or important for anyone.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

the decline of marriage as a core social institution reflects the disintegration of society, owing to a rabid (not rugged) form of individualism, and the balkanization of society along the lines of identity politics. in a pluralistic society like the usa, that is a death knell for any semblance of social cohesion. the social continuum that marriage gave rise to is being subjected to a variety of corrosive forces, including consumerism and other forms of mass-media driven debasement of the relationship between members of the opposite sex, to begin with; that is perhaps the most pernicious force at work behind the scenes. people who have no sense of being grounded in a social context have little motivation to undergo a process that seems like a semblance, like going through the ritual motions of a previous generation to whom such a ceremony actually had meaning.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites