WASHINGTON — Is marriage becoming obsolete? As families gather for Thanksgiving this year, nearly a third of American children are living with a parent who is divorced or separated or has never been married. More people are accepting the view that wedding bells aren’t needed to have a family.
A study by the Pew Research Center highlights rapidly changing notions of the U.S. family.
The Census Bureau also is planning to incorporate broader definitions of family when measuring poverty, a shift caused partly by recent jumps in unmarried couples living together.
About 29 percent of children younger than 18 live with a parent or parents who are unwed or no longer married, a fivefold increase from 1960, according to the Pew report being released today.
Broken down further, about 15 percent have parents who are divorced or separated and 14 percent who were never married. Within those two groups, a sizable chunk — 6 percent — have parents who are cohabitating couples who opted to raise kids together without getting married.
Indeed, about 39 percent of Americans said marriage was becoming obsolete.
And that sentiment follows U.S. census data released in September that showed marriages hit an all-time low of 52 percent for adults ages 18 and over. In 1978, 28 percent believed marriage was becoming obsolete.
When asked what constitutes a family, the vast majority of Americans agree that a married couple, with or without children, fits that description. But four of five surveyed pointed also to an unmarried, opposite-sex couple with children or a single parent. Three of five people said a same-sex couple with children was a family.
“Marriage is still very important in this country, but it doesn’t dominate family life like it used to,” said Andrew Cherlin, a professor of sociology and public policy at Johns Hopkins University. “Now there are several ways to have a successful family life, and more people accept them.”
The broadening views of family are expected to have an impact at Thanksgiving. About nine in every 10 Americans say they will share a Thanksgiving meal next week with family, sitting at a table with 12 people on average. About one-fourth of respondents said there will be 20 or more family members.
“More Americans are living in these new families, so it seems safe to assume that there will be more of them around the Thanksgiving dinner table,” said Paul Taylor, executive vice president of the Pew Research Center.
About the study
The Pew study was based on interviews with 2,691 adults by cellphone or land lines from Oct. 1-21. The survey has a total margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points, larger for subgroups. Pew also analyzed 2008 census data and used surveys conducted by Time magazine to identify trends from earlier decades.
