CAIRO — The latest nation-wide consensus is
showing the gradual erosion of traditional marriage in the American
society with an increasing number of single-headed families and
same-sex unions, which experts warn pose a serious threat to the
fabric of society.
"Cohabitating is our choice, and we have no
intention to be married," Jennifer Lynch, a 28-year-old stage
manager in New York who had lived with her divorced boyfriend for most
of the five years they have been a couple, told the New York Times on
Sunday, October 15.
"There is little difference between what we do
and what married people do. We love each other, exist together, all of
our decisions are based upon each other. Everyone we care about knows
this."
The American Community Survey, released this month
by the Census Bureau, found that 49.7 percent, or 55.2 million, of the
nation’s 111.1 million households in 2005 were made up of married
couples, down from more than 52 percent five years earlier.
It estimated that 5.2 million couples, a little
more than 5 percent of households, were unmarried opposite-sex
partners.
Since 2000, those identifying themselves as
unmarried opposite-sex couples rose by about 14 percent.
The survey also found that an additional 413,000
households were male couples, with a 24 percent increase, and 363,000
were female couples, up by 12 percent.
Nearly 36.7 million belonged to a category
described as "non-family households," a term that experts
said referred primarily to gay or heterosexual couples cohabiting out
of formal wedlock.
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Foreman said Americans were more
comfortable saying they are gay or lesbian and living with a
partner.
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Andrew A. Beveridge, a demographer at Queens
College of the City University of New York, who analyzed the census
for the American daily, linked the tendency to financial stability.
"It’s partially fueled by women in the work
force; they don’t necessarily have to marry to be economically
secure," he said.
Stephanie Coontz, director of public education for
the Council on Contemporary Families, a nonprofit research group,
agreed.
"Women's economic independence makes it less
essential for them to do so."
However, David Blankenhorn, president of the
marriage advocacy group the Institute for American Values, tried to
play down the trend of fewer married couples.
He believes married couples had become a minority
largely because of the growing number of households made up of people
who planned to marry or who used to be married.
Steve Watters, the director of young adults for
Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group, concurred.
"It does show that a lot of people are
experimenting with alternatives before they get there," he said.
"The biggest concern is that those who still
aspire to marriage are going to find fewer models. They’re also
finding they’ve gotten so good at being single it’s hard to be at
one with another person."
Matt Foreman, executive director of the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force, attributed the change to the fact that
same-sex couples were more comfortable disclosing their sexual
orientation.
"I would say the increase is due to people
feeling more comfortable disclosing that they are gay or lesbian and
living with a partner."
With more competition from other ways of living,
the proportion of married couples has been shrinking for decades.
In 1930, they accounted for about 84 percent of
households. By 1990 the proportion of married couples had declined to
about 56 percent.
Married couples have not been a majority of
households headed by adults younger than 25 since the 1970’s.
Yet, it is the first time within the past five
years that the proportion of married couples among those aged 25 to 34
slipped below 50 percent.
Sea of Change
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"It just changes the social
weight of marriage in the economy, in the work force, in sales of
homes and rentals," said Coontz.
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The shift is expected to bring a sea of change in
every facet of American life, from family law, economy, to national
politics.
"It just changes the social weight of marriage
in the economy, in the work force, in sales of homes and rentals, and
who manufacturers advertise to," said Coontz.
She stressed that the new ratio's potential social
and economic implications are profound.
"It certainly challenges the way we set up our
work policies."
The new trend indicates that efforts by US
President George W. Bush and his allies, who over the past five years
have made a concerted effort to shore up traditional marriage and
families through tax breaks, special legislation and church-sponsored
campaigns is bearing little fruit.
The new findings may even have an impact on
American laws.
Currently, no act or agency of the US federal
government recognizes same-sex marriage.
The legal issues surrounding same-sex marriage in
the US are complicated by the nation's federal
system.
Traditionally, the federal government did not
attempt to establish its own definition of marriage; any marriage
recognized by a state
was recognized by the federal government.
In July 2004, the anti-gay marriage advocates
failed in their attempt to amend the American Constitution to ban it
after a divided Senate blocked the measure.
Republicans contend same-sex marriage devalues
traditional marriage which is a pillar of civilization and should be
outlawed for the sake of children.
Democratic lawmakers oppose same sex-marriage, but
argue amending the Constitution is not the answer.
