By now you’ve probably read a version of the Associated Press headline story “Four in 10 say marriage is becoming obsolete.” These articles highlighted the Pew Research Center’s data showing that in 1978, 28 percent of individuals believed marriage was obsolete, today that number has risen to 39 percent. Hardly a number to cheer about, but not one that warrants doomsday headlines for marriage either. The media did not highlight the statistic stating that two-thirds of Americans are “optimistic” about the marriage and family. Nor did it point out that much the decline in percentage of adults who are married is primarily due to individuals delaying marriage, not because they will never marry.
The Associated Press articles skipped the parts of the study that showed that nearly 70 percent of children are still being raised by the married parents who conceived them. Nor does it mention that 70 percent of all people who have ever been married are still married to the same person. The media prefers to tout the overall divorce rate of 50 percent, not mentioning that it is actually just 30 percent of the population who marry, divorce, remarry, divorce…who drag the overall divorce rate down to 50 percent.
The most distressing number, however, is this: In 1960, five percent of children were born out of wedlock and in 2008 that number was 41 percent. The 41 percent out-of-wedlock child bearing number does put in perspective the “four out of 10 people who believe marriage is obsolete.” Makes you wonder if this is the same group. Clearly this group has no idea what their children need…a married mother and father together in a stable marriage.
We were preparing to write a detailed rebuttal/explanation of the Associated Press articles on the Pew study when we came upon this short piece. Chuck Donovan of the Heritage Foundation has done the job for us. It’s a short article; please take the time to read through it. Then take the information and share it. Don’t let the media get away with their anti-family, anti-marriage spin.
Go here to access The Heritage Foundation article.