Marriage wanes as American families enter new century, University of Chicago research shows The American family, which has undergone a major transformation in the past generation, is poised to change even more in the coming century. Moreover, most households will not include children.
People marry later and divorce and cohabitate more.
A growing proportion of children has been born outside of marriage. Even within marriage the changes have been profound as more and more women have entered the labor force and gender roles have become more homogenous between husbands and wives. Those changes are having an impact on how Americans think about family life, although many traditional values continue to influence people's attitudes. The GSS, a major study of a broad cross-section of Americans conducted by the National Opinion Research Center with support from the National Science Foundation, has surveyed Americans about family life since 1972. For the most recent survey, researchers interviewed in person 2,832 randomly selected people 18 years old and older.