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Is anyone surprised that more than half of births to American women under 30 now occur outside of marriage? Or that marriage is losing ground in Middle America?
What's the big deal? After all, some Americans believe that "marriage is just a piece of paper," while others think that fathers are no longer essential.
The problem with the growing marriage divide in America is that children -- and men -- often pay a big price.
For instance, research indicates that boys who are reared outside of marriage are about twice as likely to end up in prison by the time they turn 30, compared with boys raised in an intact, married home. Similarly, studies show that girls raised in fatherless homes are at least twice as likely to end up pregnant, compared with girls raised in intact, married homes with their fathers.
Do we no longer need marriage? -
Article Source: CNN
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- Public Discussion (8)
I was surprise that more than half of the babies born to women under the age 30 were born out of wedlock. Were you?
#1 - Wed Feb 22, 2012 1:22 AM ESThttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States#cite_note-78
Hispanic and Latino Americans accounted for almost half (1.4 million) of the national population growth of 2.9 million between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006.[18] Immigrants and their U.S.-born descendants are expected to provide most of the U.S. population gains in the decades ahead.
The total fertility rate in the United States estimated for 2009 is 2.01 children per woman, which is below the replacement fertility rate of approximately 2.1.[9] However, U.S. population growth is among the highest in industrialized countries,[10] since the vast majority of these have below-replacement fertility rates and the U.S. has higher levels of immigration.
In 2009, Time magazine reported that 40% of births were to unmarried women.[78] The following is a breakdown by race for unwed births: 17% Asian mothers, 29% white, 53% Hispanics, 66% Native Americans, and 72% black.
The drop in the birth rate from 2007 to 2009 is believed to be associated with the Late-2000s recession.
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And from the article...
For Americans without a college degree, divorce remains high, marital quality is falling, and nonmarital childbearing is surging.
No, I am not surprised for many reasons.....probably because I have watched too much Maury Povich.
- 1 vote
I agree it just a piece of paper, if to people are in love they do not need it to stay together, it more for the religious people and no one else. Many people who just live together are not trying to own the other person and get a long much better, years to come I feel getting marry will be in the pass and cheaper on everyone.
- 1 vote
#2 - Wed Feb 22, 2012 6:38 AM ESTMy personal feeling is that marriage is important. It's probably the way I was brought up, but it is important to me. On the other hand, I can understand why some people don't get married.
- 1 vote
#3 - Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:19 AM ESTI agree with you tzia62...
.it's too easy to jump out of the relationship when hard times come along, (and they will) when there's little motivation with trying to work them as jd said, "it will be cheaper on everyone"
I have spoken to a number of couples who have been married for over 50 years. They all admit there have been the ups and downs, but not one regretted staying together and working it out.
jdl, if you just want cheap, sign a pre nup
- 2 votes
#4 - Wed Feb 22, 2012 12:35 PM EST20 reasons to end a relationship before marriage (article linked below) has many good points because they are also 20 reasons that marriages fail.
This probably has a lot to do with why women are opting for motherhood outside of marriage.
We live in a patriarchal society where women used to have few choices in life to escape living a life free of male domination. Women now have choices and they are choosing not to enter the slave / master type of "traditional" marriage and are seeking relationships based on respect and equality. This is why we are now seeing the "war" on women's rights on a daily basis in the US by the men (and women) who are trying to return the US to a strictly patriarchal society where men reign supreme.
"Traditional" marriage that mandates the man is the "head of the household" and it is a woman's duty to submit to him in all things is dying because "traditional" marriage is obsolete, as it should be in any nation that respects equality for everyone and abhors abuse and slavery.
http://www.unmarriedamerica.org/family-diversity/Pivotal_role_of_marriage_is_an_illusion_in_American_famil_life.htm
Marriage is no longer the institution where people are initiated into sex. It no longer determines the work men and women do on the job or at home, regulates who has children and who doesn't, or coordinates care-giving for the ill or the aged. For better or worse, marriage has been displaced from its pivotal position in personal and social life, and it will not regain it short of a Taliban-like counterrevolution.
Forget the fantasy of solving the challenges of modern personal life by reinstitutionalizing marriage. We must recognize that there are healthy as well as unhealthy ways to be single or to be divorced, just as there are healthy and unhealthy ways to be married. We cannot afford to construct our social policies, our advice to our own children and even our own emotional expectations around the illusion that all commitments, sexual activities and care-giving will take place in a traditional marriage.
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20 reasons to end a relationship
http://relationshiptherightway.blogspot.com/2009/03/20-reasons-to-end-relationship-before.html
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Top 10 Reasons for Divorce:
1. Marriage Infidelity: top reasons for divorce
Infidelity or more commonly known as “cheating” is on top of the list of reasons for divorce in the US.
3. Physical, psychological or emotional abuse
Marriage abuses – from either husband or wife – is a big area of concern for many couples. Physical, psychological or emotional abuses take a large diverse of forms, which varies from family to family. However, in a short list they include things like telling a spouse that they are unwanted, beating, name-calling, ignoring, restricting person to a room, terrorizing, monitoring phone calls, forcing spouse in doing something which they are not comfortable with. Abuse is one of the biggest reasons for divorceand any person oppressed in such a condition could face a really miserable life and should seek help quickly.
Stats/reasons for infidelity ....http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/infidelity/
Stats on abuse ....
http://domesticviolencestatistics.org/domestic-violence-statistics/
Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten.
- Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women—more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.
- Studies suggest that up to 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence annually.
- Nearly 1 in 5 teenage girls who have been in a relationship said a boyfriend threatened violence or self-harm if presented with a breakup.
- Everyday in the US, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends.
- Ninety-two percent of women surveyed listed reducing domestic violence and sexual assault as their top concern.
- Domestic violence victims lose nearly 8 million days of paid work per year in the US alone—the equivalent of 32,000 full-time jobs.
- The costs of intimate partner violence in the US alone exceed $5.8 billion per year: $4.1 billion are for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account for nearly $1.8 billion.
- Men who as children witnessed their parents’ domestic violence were twice as likely to abuse their own wives than sons of nonviolent parents.
- 3 votes
#5 - Wed Feb 22, 2012 2:29 PM ESTRight now the only reason I would get married is for the legal protection for my partner that is from another country. Other than that our relationship is fine. We make our relationship work, not a marriage certificate. Different strokes for different folks.
- 2 votes
#6 - Wed Feb 22, 2012 2:47 PM ESTMy husband and I lived together for two years before marrying. Our relationship was much better before marriage because he treated me as an independent person. After marriage, he tried to assume the traditional role of head of household and I had to "respect" his authority of what I did, where I worked, and what I "felt".
This set up a war that only ended when I told him that I would have never married the person that he had hidden before we married. He knew what respect, negotiation and compromise were before we married and "forget" afterward. He had the choice to re-learn what equality in a relationship meant or we could end it. He is still "re-learning" and divorce is still a possibility. I want a partner .... not a boss and not a 64 year child who has never grown up.
- 2 votes
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