WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A marriage gap and an accompanying rise of a re-formed family unit in the United States aligns along income lines, the Pew Research Center said Thursday.
Marriage, while declining among all groups, remains the norm for college-educated adults and those with higher incomes, but is less prevalent among people lower on the socio-economic scale, results of the nationwide survey done in conjunction with Time magazine indicated.
Fifty-two percent of all U.S adults were married in 2008, the latest year examined, survey results indicated. In 1960, 72 percent of adults were married.
The survey found that those in less-advantaged groups wanted to marry just as much as those in other groups -- but said they wanted economic security as a condition for marriage.
The survey also found generational differences as well. In 1960, 68 percent of 20-somethings were married, while just 26 percent were married in 2008.
The survey found that today's youth were more inclined to consider cohabitation without marriage and other family forms -- such as same-sex marriage and interracial marriage -- in a positive light.
Americans have an expanded definition of what constitutes a family, the survey indicated.
Pew said a huge majority of adults indicated they consider their family to be the most important and satisfying component of their lives.
Seven in 10 respondents said the trend toward more single women having children was bad for society, and 61 percent said that a child needs a mother and father to grow up happily, results indicated.
Forty-three percent of respondents indicated they thought the trends toward more cohabitation without marriage, more unmarried couples raising children and more gay couples raising children were bad for society, Pew said.
