Marriage Trends in 1950's America
Marriage as an institution has greatly changed since the 1950’s America as symbolized by the trends reflected in the reading.
First, same sex couples who are living together have now been marriage. Same-sex marriage was illegal since the 1950’s in all American states until the State of Massachusetts legalized it in 2004, and it became legal nationwide in 2015 (Cherlin).
Secondly, the change in state and federal laws spurred the backlog of medium and long-term couple marriages to legally be a union under law. Same-sex marriages are also tying the knot to take advantage of the benefits that other married couples are enjoying, for instance the ability to jointly submit tax returns.
Thirdly, there is the trend where people are prioritizing life accomplishments than marriage which has increased the median age at first marriage.
Fourth, in the current paradigm, the view of marriage has changed into a view that views it as more of a companionship as opposed to the product of love. People settle down, have kids, and hold weddings later in their lifetimes – for instance, in Norway the median age for first marriage is 39 and 38 for men and women respectfully (Cherlin).
The "Same-Sex Marriage Boom"
The author explains the “same-sex marriage boom” as not being a result of companionship alone. As such, the author argues that this form of marriage is encouraged by the fact that marriage in the present day society is a public marker of a successful union, which provides couples with the opportunity to display their companionship to friends and family (Cherlin).
One of the reasons, has been mentioned as the desire to claim some rights that were for long not accorded to them and which were available for different-sex couples. Additionally, the incidence of same-sex marriage boom signals the larger community success of long-terms companionships which encourages same-sex couples to strive to be part of this statistic.
Education and Marriage Patterns
Education has become a factor determining marriage patterns and statistics across the years. The author argues that the main distinction in marriage patterns presently is between Americans who have at least attained a bachelor’s degree and those who have not.
Those who undergo college education have a higher likelihood to be eventually marriage even though the time taken for this to be realized is a bit longer (Cherlin). Additionally, for most of those who do not go through college, they wait until after marriage to get children, while those who go through the education process have their first children before they settle down for marriage.
Today, the educational level of individuals have a great impact on their marriage approach as compared to the mid-20th century when the educational level of individuals had less impact on whether, when and for how long they married (Cherlin).
The Future of Marriage
I don’t think that marriage will continue to dominate “the American family life” because the tides are changing when the significance of the family institution within the American society was stressed.
Nowadays, the approach to marriage is liberal and people can enter into unions and companionships as they wish. Additionally, there are more important life accomplishments and markers that individuals are considering more important than entering into life partnerships.
Educational and other accomplishments have been attached with greater meaning as time goes by, and soon the dominance of the marriage within the American family life will continue to subdue.
Works Cited
Cherlin, Andrew. “Marriage Has Become a Trophy. The Atlantic New York. Web. https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/03/incredible-everlasting-institution-marriage/555320/ [accessed November 29, 2018]
