Middle Class Marriage In America

It can be argued that one of the most important aspects of culture are marriages. The union of two people to symbolize the propagation of a system of belief and ideas passed down which become inherent to their identity. Almost every culture has some type of marriage ritual in which unite two different families and create an integral bond. Yet the similarities in the placed importance of marriage traditions are not the same across the board, and their traditions also differ as well. Each culture or group of people have different marriage customs, and do not share the same meaning of what a marriage is or what it holds in society. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how American marriage culture is different from Arab or Chinese. The paper

Within a generation, America has seen radical changes in the home. My mother was raised in an era where the nuclear family was the norm, however, in recent years, its has become increasingly acceptable for children to be born out of wedlock. After learning this, the question on my mind, and probably yours, is “what happened to the American family”. June Carbone and Naomi Cahn believe that changes in marriage dynamics are responsible. In the book, Marriage Markets: How Inequality Is Remaking the American Family, they report that the age in which couples get married is rising, yet the rate of marriage is falling, and it is found that nearly half of all who marry, wind up separating. Additionally, the number of children born out of wedlock is now nearing those of children who are born within wedlock and the percentage of children who grow up in a single parent household is the highest it 's ever been. Using quantitative research methods, Carbone and Cahn were able to assess the changes America has seen in recent years. The changing dynamic of the family reinforces economic inequality and predetermines a child’s income as an adult.

Within a generation, America has seen drastic changes in the home. My mother was raised in an era where the nuclear family was the norm. Now, it has become largely acceptable for children to be born out of wedlock and into single parent homes. I’m guessing the question as to why it has become so widely accepted, is on your mind as well. June Carbone and Naomi Cahn have set out to see why this is happening in their new book, Marriage Markets: How Inequality Is Remaking the American Family. Carbone and Cahn are well-known for their work in the field of family dynamics due to their previous book, Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture; a book discussing the effect political parties had on family morals and values. Marriage Markets is essentially a sequel, using much of the same data while adding more contemporary findings. Using quantitative research methods, Carbone and Cahn were able to assess the changes America has seen in recent years. They have hypothesized that “economic inequality is remaking the American family along class lines, and families are not going through the same changes together” (Carbone 1). . Based on the reading, there is strong evidence that supports their thesis, including statistics from the Census. In the following review of Carbone and Cahn’s work, I will summarize the book’s contents and survey its major strengths and weaknesses.

Over time, the American society has derailed from the traditional reason and forms of marriage and family set up. The American society acceptance of non-marital childbearing (single parenting), same- sex marriage has led to the trending poverty rate in average families. The main objective of the institution of marriage was meant to be between a man and a woman. Starting of a family should be a product of marriage. There is certainly a need for the American Society to embrace the old form of marriage and family setting as it is more beneficial to the upbringing of a child. This paper will focus on recent developments in marriage and family set up within the American society.

Families are not being equally affected by the economic changes in America. “Rates of marriage also are changing according to class; middle-class people are more likely to marry and remarry than working-class people, who are more likely to remain single or cohabitate” (Marriage Wanes, 1999). When looking at the information presented in Marriage Wanes it shows that lower income individuals are less likely to marry. Though Money Income in the United States (2001) shows that all incomes are affected by a decline in the economy; racial groups; Blacks, and Asians are impacted the most by a higher decline of average median wages. Families in these groups will be the most impacted by the economic

In this year’s essay, David Popenoe argues that long-term trends point to the gradual weakening of marriage as the primary social institution of family life. More Americans today are living together, marrying at older ages or not at all, and rearing children in cohabiting or solo parent households. Overall, the U.S. trends are following the far-advanced trends toward nonmarriage in Northwestern European nations, albeit at a slower and more uneven pace.

Most Americans don’t marry young, more Americans are cohabitating before marriage, unmarried with children, not all marriages are created equal, and it’s true that the divorce rate is at fifty percent, but it does not mean what you might think…

Working in the current economy has increased the job stress influences the people of the work force. “Work and family arc two major domains in our lives” and the true dilemma is how to keep them balanced (3). The decline in the economy makes finding a job and achieving career goals much more difficult. This issue alone can result in additional stress in a marriage, and change people’s thoughts on when or if being married is appropriate. “These days, Americans are more likely than in the past to cohabit, divorce, marry late or not marry at all” (2) and this comes from the lack of funds to sustain a marriage. “Money has the no. 1 point of conflict in the majority of marriages” (6) and as money is a necessity, this increases the statistic that “upon entering a marriage, there is at least a 50% chance that it will end in divorce” (3). This is evidence that “strong marriages take investment”

Although statistics may seem skewed at times, the statistics in this article seem to be very true. The studies have shown that the well educated tend to have more successful marriages and a more stable relationship than the others. Marriage seems to be heading in the direction of luxury. It seems as if, through research, that many couples are successful if they have all of the adequate means that the well educated men and women have. As we look at the statistics, unsuccessful marriages were typically detected within the least educated. Over the past several years, this has spread to the moderately educated. Some of these moderately educated men and women feel as if they are not economically ready and fit to start a family. Several years ago, it was seen that most unsuccessful marriages were seen in the least educated, but unfortunately, this is spreading into the moderately educated.

In America, marriage is generally regarded as a constant, never changing commitment that has stood firm throughout the ages. However, this image is perhaps more distorted than most realize. In reality, marriage has evolved through the years, mostly for the better, but occasionally it takes a turn for the worse.

What does marriage in the United States and other countries around the world mean? Debunking has five myths about marriage 1- The Universal Nuclear Family, 2-The Self-Reliant Traditional Family, 3- The Naturalness of Different spheres for Wives and Husbands, 4- The Unstable African American Family, and 5- The Idealized Nuclear family of the 1950’s.

The American concept of marriage foundation has been a foundation for human civilization for centuries. Likewise, forty-one American states revere matrimony laws of Moses between man and woman. However, the concept of marriage for Americans is under review by the United States Supreme Court. Citizens interested in changing the Law of Moses will present their purpose and reason challenging the Federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Upon her passageway into the world a youthful American lady finds these ideas immovably settled; she sees the guidelines that are gotten from them; she does not ease back to see that she can't withdraw for a moment from the built up uses of her peers without putting in peril her true serenity, her respect, nay, even her social presence; and she finds the vitality required for such a demonstration of accommodation in the immovability of her comprehension and in the virile propensities which her instruction has given her. It might be said that she has learned by the utilization of her autonomy to surrender it without a battle and without a mumble when the time wants to make the relinquish.

Roiphe argues a well-known topic in America she explains her situation to get her point across. I agree with her argument about marriage, being “an economic-rearing institution, social encounter involving ambition, class, and money”. Many times people get married for a social status that conveys them and their wealth. There are many instances we get so caught up in romance that we never get to fully know a person and their intentions. Individuals change over time and circumstances make them change. In marriage, religion, position, and an economic status play a major role. Roiphe’s story is a great example of how marriage was just an escape from poverty, in her case men came in her family after the “American Dream” and not after love. That's why I see marriage the same way Roiphe does because sometimes people get married to a social status. Yet there are a few people who get married because they are truly in love. In America, most of the marriages are a fraud since many couples pretend to live a happy life yet behind doors they live a miserable life full of lies and mistreatments. After all, we have to think about the children, our well being, live life with regrets and mistakes because that's what shapes us

Nowadays, divorce rates are very high, but people still get married. David Popenoe and Barbara Whitehead state, “Marriage trends in recent decades indicate that Americans have become less likely to marry, and the most recent data show that the marriage rates in the United States continues to decline” (Popenoe and Whitehead 16). Now why could this be? Society as a whole has changed the landscape of what truly is happiness. Selfish, self-centered men and women would rather run into to arms of their mistress or lover instead of trying to figure out their problems. Worldly desires creep in and cause people to make unconscious decisions. Andrew J. Cherlin states that, “In a larger sense, the changing division of labor, cohabitation, and gay marriage are the result of long-term