Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Today’s 18 to 29 year olds – members of the so-called Millennial Generation – see parenthood and marriage differently than today’s thirty-somethings (members of Generation X) did back when they were in their late teens and twenties, according to a new analysis of Pew Research Center survey findings. Unlike their older counterparts, Millennials value parenthood much more than marriage.
The pre-eminent family unit of the mid-20th century—mom, dad and the kids—no longer has the stage to itself. A variety of new arrangements have emerged, giving rise to a broader and evolving definition of what constitutes a family.
Interactive charts that show trends related to marriage, children and household composition from 1960 thru 2008.
Today’s mothers of newborns are older and better educated than their counterparts in 1990, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the National Center for Health Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau. They are less likely to be white and less likely to be married.
In the past, when relatively few wives worked, marriage enhanced the economic status of women more than that of men. Recently, however, the economic gains associated with marriage have been greater for men.
The proportion of Americans who are currently married has been diminishing for decades and is lower than it has been in at least half a century.
There is a stronger consensus in public opinion about the social cost of out-of-wedlock births than there is about the morality of these births.
Americans believe that births to unwed women are a big problem for society, and they take a mixed view at best of cohabitation without marriage.
More than four in ten American adults either see or talk to a parent every day, according to a survey that looks at the nature of family ties and the frequency of family contact.
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About Pew Research Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
