Wouldn’t it be odd, and sad, if American elites, at the very moment in which the role of marriage as both an indicator and producer of high status in their own lives is crystal clear, decided to throw up their hands in resignation when it comes to marriage in the rest of the society? Indeed, scholars today increasingly identify America’s marriage gap - in which the affluent reap the benefits of marriage while the non-affluent increasingly do not - as an important driver of rising American inequality. Among the more privileged, then, marriage clearly functions as a wealth-producing arrangement, a source of happiness over time, and a benefit to children. ![]() ![]() ![]() Most people marry, few children (fewer than 10 percent) are born to unmarried mothers, and most children grow up through age 18 living with their two married parents. In upscale America - about one-third of the society - marriage is thriving. I admire Isabel Sawhill deeply, but I respectfully disagree with this recommendation.įirst, American marriage isn’t disappearing, it’s fracturing along class lines. ![]() The latest and possibly most prominent is my friend Isabel Sawhill, whose new book is "Generation Unbound: Drifting into Sex and Parenthood without Marriage." Her basic premise is that “marriage is disappearing in America.” Accordingly, we should replace the old ideal of “don’t have a child outside of marriage” with a new ideal of “responsible parenthood,” which means “not having a child before you and your partner really want one and have thought about how you will care for that child.” Should we give up on marriage? Some very smart people have apparently reached this conclusion.
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