Research Shows More U.S. Adults Are Waiting to Wed, Have Kids
by Natalie Harris and Jenni Parker
July 26, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A study from a pro-marriage group has found that more Americans are waiting to marry and are having fewer children. According to an article by the National Marriage Project, fewer women are having babies, and a much shorter portion of adult life is spent raising children than in previous years.Dr. David Popinoe is Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he is also Co-Director of the National Marriage Project. He says the trend of more people delaying marriage and having children can be attributed in part to adults who hesitate to marry because they want to avoid experiencing divorce.
But while this hesitance is understandable, Popinoe recommends that adults marry and have children by their mid-twenties, if possible. He says most married couples will discovered that the stress of raising children is worth it in the end.
"Children are arguably the most rewarding thing in life in the long-term," the sociology professor asserts. "It's just that they're hard when they're young, and they require a lot of patience and so on to take care of them," he says, "but when you get older, having successfully raised children is one of the greatest achievements in life -- if not the greatest achievement."
Popinoe suggests that young adults prepare themselves for marriage ahead of time, just as they would for a career. According to a National Marriage Project report, the desire of teen boys and girls for 'a good marriage and family life' has increased over the past few decades. However, some analysts have noted that this optimistic trend is unfortunately offset by teens' increasing acceptance of non-marital lifestyles and out-of-wedlock childbearing.
Unmarried Parenting: A Hard Path for Women and Their ChildrenConcerned Women for America's think tank, the Beverly LaHaye Institute (BLI), is highlighting a related concern. Research released by the Institute this week shows that unmarried motherhood among women over age 20 is continuing to rise. Meanwhile, the research shows that unemployment rates have also risen sharply among mothers of children under age six.Dr. Janice Crouse, BLI Senior Fellow, says the daily realities of life are hard for unmarried mothers -- even for older, non-teen moms and even for those whose efforts are "energetic and heroic." The average low-income unwed mother is "highly vulnerable," Crouse asserts; and typically, "she is a long way from the invincible woman portrayed in the feminist myths."
The unemployment rate for never-married mothers of children under six years of age is four times higher than that of married mothers, the BLI spokeswoman points out. "Despite the Hollywood myths and the feminist rhetoric," she contends, "being a mother of small children is a vulnerable time for women, and the presence of a husband is vital to the welfare of her children."
Crouse says the best thing parents can do for their children is "to marry each other before having those children and ... to provide a stable and nurturing environment where their children can thrive." If parents choose to do otherwise, she adds, those children will be at risk for many undesirable outcomes.
