New Poll Reveals How Americans Value Marriage
A new Gallup poll found that only a third of America’s baby boomers and thirty percent of those aged 18-39 believe marriage is ''very important'' if a couple has a child together.
WASHINGTON – A new Gallup poll found that only a third of America’s baby boomers and thirty percent of those aged 18-39 believe marriage is ''very important'' if a couple has a child together, compared to 58 percent of adults 65 and over.
“I think that’s a very troubling finding, that only 30-35 percent of people in the younger generation think marriage is very important,” said Peter Brigg, Vice President for Policy at the Family Research Council. “There is an abundance of research that shows marriage is important for adults as well as children.”
The analysis was based on telephone interviews of 1,002 randomly selected adults conducted from May 8-22, and was released on May 30.
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There was more agreement on a question on whether it is “very important” to marry if the couple plan to spend their lives together. Some 80 percent of those 65 older agreed, compared to 66 percent of those aged 40-64 and 57 percent of those aged 18-39. Overall, 65 percent of those polled agreed.
"We're still quite a marrying society," said David Popenoe, co-director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J., according to USA Today.
But marriage is weakening as an important institution in the United States, he added.
According to Brigg, such results call for greater action among pro-family supporters in the public policy arena.
“We need to be doing all that we can, both by public persuasion and public policy, to encourage marriage and encourage child rearing by married couples and discourage unions outside the context of marriage between a man and a woman,” said Brigg. “It sounds like we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
In the bigger picture, the Gallup poll found that 71 percent of all Americans believe marrying is "very important" or "somewhat important" when a couple has a child together. This figure jumped to 85 percent when asked of the importance of marriage when a couple plans to spend lives together.
Carrie Gordon Earll, spokesperson for Focus on the Family, said these higher numbers paint a more accurate picture of how much Americans value marriage.
"Honestly, I would say this poll is disconcerting if the vast majority do not value marriage," she said. "But you have 71 percent saying it is important, so I think this should be read in another way."
Recent Gallup polling finds that nearly all U.S. adults – 91 percent – either have been married or plan to get married someday. Only 4 percent have ruled out marriage, while 5 percent are unsure or refuse to designate their marital status or intentions.
