Weddings dramatically drop in U.S.

 

A perfect storm.

Some using finances as a reason not to. Some seeing it as an archaic tradition of the past. Some wait until their “careers” are at the right place. Some delay it to opt instead to live with the other.

Marriage.

What was once perhaps the greatest gift people had in their earthly lives, has become a commodity to be negotiated. And it is also an institution that is in trouble.

Some excerpts (Italicized):

WASHINGTON – The recession seems to be socking Americans in the heart as well as the wallet: Marriages have hit an all-time low while pleas for food stamps have reached a record high and the gap between rich and poor has grown to its widest ever.

The long recession technically ended in mid-2009, economists say, but U.S. Census data released Tuesday show the painful, lingering effects. The annual survey covers all of last year, when unemployment skyrocketed to 10 percent, and the jobless rate is still a stubbornly high 9.6 percent.

The economic "indicators say we're in recovery, but the impact on families and children will linger on for years," he said.

Take marriage.

In America, marriages fell to a record low in 2009, with just 52 percent of adults 18 and over saying they were joined in wedlock, compared to 57 percent in 2000.

The never-married included 46.3 percent of young adults 25-34, with sharp increases in single people in cities in the Midwest and Southwest, including Cleveland, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Albuquerque, N.M. It was the first time the share of unmarried young adults exceeded those who were married.

Marriages have been declining for years due to rising divorce, more unmarried couples living together and increased job prospects for women. But sociologists say younger people are also now increasingly choosing to delay marriage as they struggle to find work and resist making long-term commitments.

So many of us would claim that marriage is the most important thing. For those that have families, they would attest to giving everything for the sake of their children. Given this, why do we find so many financial reasons to to get married, or have children? For most of human history, mankind has lived in poverty. Of which, during that time, they seemed to do just fine having families without worrying about a flat screen TV or a new dress.

(ORIGINAL LINK) Recession rips at US marriages, expands income gap - Yahoo! News