New York City, N.Y., Aug 16, 2011 / 23:31 pm
Family instability continues to grow in the U.S. despite falling divorce rates for families with children. Researchers say an increase in cohabitation is part of the problem, adding that society’s “retreat from marriage” harms children and has particularly hurt poor and working-class communities.
“In a striking turn of events, the divorce rate for married couples with children has returned almost to the levels we saw before the divorce revolution kicked in during the 1970s,” said Prof. W. Bradford Wilcox of the University of Virginia.
“Nevertheless, family instability is on the rise for American children as a whole. This seems in part to be because more couples are having children in cohabiting unions, which are very unstable,” he said.
Wilcox is the lead author of “Why Marriage Matters: Thirty Conclusions from the Social Sciences,” a report from the New York-based Institute for American Values’ Center for Marriage and Families.