For decades, conventional wisdom has said that marriage — widely recognised as the bedrock institution of society — is on the decline.

But brand new research has challenged that assumption.

This week, the US-based Institute for Family Studies revealed that the divorce rate is falling, the number of births to unmarried mothers has plateaued, and the number of children being born to married-parent families is steadily rising.

“The fortunes of marriage in America had been in free-fall seemingly since the 1960s,” the authors of the report begin. “Divorce and single parenthood more than doubled, marriage rates plummeted, and diverse family forms surged.”

“But marriage is not dead yet,” they write.

“Major shifts in family behaviour are underway that indicate marriage is strengthening as the primary anchor of family life.”

Let’s take a quick look at the three major trends they examined.

1. A Decline in Divorce

Divorce rates in the US peaked in the 1970s and 1980s, with estimates that about 50% of Baby Boomers will end up divorced. But for younger generations, that rate drops — to 47% for couples that married in the 1990s, and 44% for those who married in the 2000s.

For those getting married now, that figure is likely to fall even further to 40–42%.

“The bottom line: Most married couples will make it,” the report’s authors state.

2. Unwed Birth Rates Steady

Another trend that helps measure societal health — having children outside of marriage — has also seen a significant turnaround. After steadily increasing since the 1960s, the rate of babies born to unmarried mothers peaked in 2009 at 41% during the Global Financial Crisis. Since then, it has slightly declined and now sits at around 40%.

The authors explain why this trend is relevant:

This matters for family stability because children born out of wedlock are significantly more likely to see their parents break up than children born to married parents.

3. More Kids in Married Homes

“Less divorce and a modest decline in childbearing outside of marriage equals more family stability for children,” the authors summarise — but they also have another encouraging statistic to share.

The percentage of children being raised in married-parent families is rising again. In 2012, that figure reached its lowest at 64%. But in the years since, it has risen back up to 66%.

The upshot, according to the authors?

These reversals mean that marriage is back as the cornerstone of American family life. Stable marriage is increasingly the way that most men and women are raising children.

Still Some Challenges Ahead

There was one negative trend identified by the Institute for Family Studies: While children are benefitting from stabler marriages, a certain subset of the population is still avoiding marriage altogether. Around 1 in 3 young adults will never marry, according to their research. And around 1 in 4 will neither marry nor have children.

In short, “family formation has become more selective for the kinds of men and women who have the economic resources and cultural commitments to succeed at family life”.

There’s still work to be done to put family back at the centre of society. However, many of the trend lines are encouraging.

In the words of the authors:

As the primary institution for grounding and guiding family life for children, it looks like marriage is back. This is good news — both because the Americans who report the most meaningful and happiest lives are married mothers and fathers, and because the best social science tells us that children are more likely to thrive when they are raised by their own stably married parents.

___

Image courtesy of Pexels. Charts via the Institute for Family Studies.