In America and Around the World | Who Needs Marriage?

RedTracker| TIME magazine has teamed up with Pew Research, asking the critical question What Is Marriage Good For?

The TIME article — and it seems the Pew Research also — is focused on American life and doesn’t place America within the larger global scene in which not only is marriage declining, but at levels far lower than in America.

Look at Portugal, for example. In 1970 the US had 10.6 per 1000 individuals and Portugal 9.38. In 2007, the US rate was 7.4 per 1000 individuals and Portugal 4.37. When we look at America, compared to this list of other developed countries in Canada and Italy, America remains the most marrying country.

Marriage in America is increasingly rooted in socio-economic disparities, with educated and higher income people marrying and low-income people not. We’ve all but wiped out our middle class, so marriage is associated with people who truly can afford it.

The majority of Americans continue to express an interest in marrying at least once, even though very large numbers see marriage as an increasingly unnecessary institution in the future.

We’ll return with an in-depth analysis of this new Pew Research, but our perspective will put marriage trends within the larger global context. We believe this entire topic is best studied from a global, not purely American, perspective. Anne