Interesting Pew Poll Data Re: Religious Groups and Marriage

[smac97]

Here:

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Share of married adults varies widely across U.S. religious groups
BY DAVID MASCI AND CLAIRE GECEWICZ

Throughout U.S. history, marriage has been tied to religion and religious institutions. Today, virtually all faith traditions have rules and ceremonies regarding marriage and, in the United States as well as in many other countries, clergy of different religious groups are authorized by the government to perform weddings.

In the U.S., roughly half of all American adults (48%) say they are married, according to the 2014 Religious Landscape Study. Much smaller shares of U.S. adults say they are living with a partner (7%), are divorced or separated (13%), or are widowed (7%). A quarter of Americans say they’ve never been married.

In certain U.S. religious groups, a higher-than-average share of adults say they are married. For instance, six-in-ten or more Mormons, members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are married. The same holds true for Hindus, Southern Baptists and members of the Episcopal Church.

The 2014 stat for Mormons is 66% married, which tops the list of religious groups in the U.S.  What is interesting, however, is that the 2007 results (from this link) show a stat of 71%:

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So from 2007 to 2014, the "Yes, I'm married" stat for Mormons went down 5% (from 71% to 66%), while the "I've never been married" went up 7% (from 12% to 19%).  These seem to be rather serious shifts.  I wonder what has happened from 2014 to present.

Back to the first article:

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Age also is a big factor in determining which religious groups have a higher or lower share of married adults. In short, those groups that have more young people tend to have a smaller share of married adults and vice versa. That’s in part because younger Americans are less likely than their older counterparts to be married. In fact, among adults between the ages of 18 and 29, just 16% are married, compared with a majority (57%) of adults over the age of 30.

Again, Mormons top the list in terms of percentages over 30 who are married (74%), while also having the youngest median age of religious groups (43).

Thoughts?

Thanks,

-Smac

[Scott Lloyd]

The Brethren are concerned that marriageable young people in the Church are “hanging out” as opposed to dating. Maybe the rise in never-been-marrieds is attributable to that.  

[HappyJackWagon]

Interesting stats. 5% drop isn't so bad if you compare it to the Hindu marriage drop from 79% in 2007 to 60% in 2014. I don't really believe that Hindu marriage rates really dropped that much in 7 years. Muslims and Buddhists also dropped more than Mormons. The full sample dropped 6%. It's more likely a weakness in data collection.

[Robert F. Smith]

6 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

The Brethren are concerned that marriageable young people in the Church are “hanging out” as opposed to dating. Maybe the rise in never-been-marrieds is attributable to that.  

The biggest share of the problem is that young men can't make enough money to feel secure for marriage.  Emphasis on education (BYU subsidizes it, and has a worldwide program for it) is thus very  important.  When the Brethren were young, it was much more possible for men to get a good education rather cheaply, and society at large harvested the benefits.  Today it is simply too expensive.  Only the elite can afford it.

Finding fault with the youth is probably not going to improve the situation.  

Reid Wilson, “More Americans are living alone after recession,” The Hill, Oct 12, 2017, online at http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/355122-more-americans-are-living-alone-after-recession . 

[Robert F. Smith]

6 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

Interesting stats. 5% drop isn't so bad if you compare it to the Hindu marriage drop from 79% in 2007 to 60% in 2014. I don't really believe that Hindu marriage rates really dropped that much in 7 years. Muslims and Buddhists also dropped more than Mormons. The full sample dropped 6%. It's more likely a weakness in data collection.

The recession hit other countries much harder than it did the USA, and recovery rates elsewhere have been very slow, so minority groups with overseas connections were likely to have been hit hard (sending huge payments to relatives in other countries).  Marriage is very expensive, and the rates have fallen primarily due to lack of money.

[strappinglad]

A college degree is not the door opener that it was 40 years ago. The legal pitfalls of marriage in the current climate is hardly encouraging for young men.

I recently watched a program that followed a couple who wanted a home in San Francisco .They were each making 6 figure salaries and the only home they could afford was just out of their budget range of 1.3 million. Nuts !!! I suppose they would have found a place in Detroit for much less, but ...