Marriage Declining in America while Conservatism Rises

The past week – February 7 to 14 – was observed in America as National Marriage Week at a time when marriage in the country has been on a decline, raising a concern for those who view marriage as integral to American society, at least as far as the conservative view of society goes.

On Monday (February 10), Don Feder’s opinion piece in The Washington Times included statistics pertaining to the prevalence of marriage in contemporary America. By those figures, the rate of married couples in American households fell from 71% in 1970 to 51% in 2019. In today’s America, about a quarter of all 40-year-olds never married and recent estimates show that marriage is not among the top priorities of millennials.

In a recent survey, only 30% of millennials said having a successful marriage was one of the most important things in life. The rest prioritize saving the smelt and choosing the right pet food.

Feder makes a case for marriage by presenting it as the foundation of a normal and healthy life, particularly mental well-being, as well as keeping a steady birth rate. The latter, he says, has also been falling with the declining marriage rate. The Washington Times writer then rounded up various factors contributing to the decline of marriage including, but not limited to, the negative portrayal of marriage in entertainment media. He wrote:

Stories about the limitations of marriage and joys of singleness are everywhere. It’s as if infidelity, exploitation and abuse were the norms of married life.

The article also points to the view among contemporary adults in America that children are a financial burden and hence marriage should only come after one has achieved financial stability. Mandy Len Catron wrote the same in her article “What You Lose When You Gain a Spouse” published in The Atlantic (July 2, 2019) – that young adults in today’s America tend to postpone marriage until they can achieve total financial independence.

On Mitch English’s show Daily Flash, trauma expert Janie Lacy also opined that focusing on careers amidst financial uncertainty is the leading factor contributing to declining marriage rates among millennials.

Marriage in America also shows a pretty clear political leaning. Last year, the Pew Research Center posted its figures on the political party affiliation of Americans with respect to gender, sexual orientation, marital and parental status. The stats showed that the majority of married women and men lean toward or identify with the Republican Party (GOP) while the majority of singles including partnered but not married couples associate with the Democratic Party.

Since same-sex marriage, or “gay marriage” as it is called, became legalized in America, the traditional concept of man-woman couple has been challenged and same sex people are getting married across the country. In the wake of President Trump’s recent victory in the November 2024 election, marriage among liberals was reportedly affected in two opposite ways. Within a week of the election, NBC reported that women who adhere to radical feminism started posting videos to social media pledging not to get married and even abstain from sex with men altogether to protest Trump’s victory.

NPR, however, reported around Christmas time that some couples are rushing to get married before Trump is sworn into the Oval Office. These included same sex couples, who feared Trump would attack their legal right to marriage once he becomes the President, and couples with “mixed immigration status” implying one of the partners is in the U.S. illegally and fears deportation.