Marriage is on the decline in the U.S. – Axios

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/AxiosAmericans are increasingly forgoing or delaying marriage — a dramatic shift from societal norms a generation ago.By the numbers: Over the last 50 years, the marriage rate in the U.S. has dropped by nearly 60%.What’s happening: Taxes and some other legal structures still give an advantage to married couples, but the formal benefits of marriage are diminishing, said Andrew Cherlin, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins. And the societal pressure to marry has eroded dramatically.”Life is still a bit easier if you’re married,” he said. But many of the life events we link to marriage, such as cohabitating or having kids, are increasingly occurring outside of marriage.Reality check: Even as the marriage rate is falling, the institution still holds value in the U.S., said Susan Brown, co-director of the National Center for Family & Marriage Research.Case in point: High school seniors’ attitudes toward marriage have remained relatively stable over the past several decades.In 1976, 74% of seniors said they expected to get married, and in 2020, 71% said so, according to an ongoing University of Michigan study.But the way we think about marriage is changing.”It used to be a basic institution that everyone had to buy into in early
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