The findings
of the recent Pew survey showing the low level of marriage in the US
aren’t really all that surprising to those who are familiar with the issue.
Just over half (51pc) of US adults are now married says Pew, based on US census
data.

Only last
year, the Institute for American Values released a paper, The State of Our
Unions, which revealed that marriage in the US
was in big trouble particularly among the poor and the working class.

Interestingly,
despite the fact that the US
had a big head start on us in terms of the cultural trends which have done so
much to weaken marriage and commitment generally, marriage here isn’t in much
better shape. The Irish figure (50.6) for 2006 is almost identical to the
American one.

This blog from Family Edge
points out that one of the most surprising, and worrying things to emerge from
the survey is the is the speed with which the number of new marriages seems to
be dropping.

There was a
five percent fall in the number of new marriages between 2009 and 2010,
although the finding may be related to the economic recession.

It also
notes that while the decline in marriage has affected every social group, it
has impacted upon young adults most markedly:

“In the United
States, the
declines have occurred among all age groups, but are most dramatic among young
adults. Today, just 20pc of adults ages 18 to 29 are married, compared with
59pc in 1960. Over the course of the past 50 years, the median age at first
marriage has risen by about six years for both men and women.

“It is not
yet known whether today’s young adults are abandoning marriage or merely
delaying it. Even at a time when barely half of the adult population is
married, a much higher share— 72pc—have been married at least once. However,
this “ever married” share is down from 85pc in 1960.”

The figures
also show that the median age at first marriage has never been higher for
brides (26.5 years) and grooms (28.7), although this is still lower than the
figures for Ireland
which are 31 and 34 respectively.

The new
figures stand in stark contrast with those from 50 years ago. In 1960, 72pc of
all American adults ages 18 and older were married; today just 51% are.

By
comparison, Irish figures show that, in 1986, 61pc of Irish adults over 18 were
married. The figure in 1961 was 54pc. However, for many decades after the
famine, Ireland
was highly unusual in that marriages tended to take place very late.

Overall, the
figures show that we have a culture that places less and less value on
marriage. Given what we know about the importance of marriage for building
social capital generally, and for raising healthy and successful children, it
is all the more baffling that our policy makers seem so blasé about this decline.