By Genaro Armas
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The more educated you are, the more likely you are to marry.
Among younger men, having an older wife is becoming more common.
And while half of first marriages end in divorce, nine of 10 Americans are expected to say "I do" at least once in their lives, a Census Bureau report released Thursday shows.
The report, from a 1996 survey, provides "comprehensive, historically rich data" on marriage and divorce, said University of Michigan sociologist Pamela Smock. In the main, she said, "it confirms things that many American people are aware of."
The report also comes as the Bush administration weighs how to change the 1996 welfare overhaul, which must be renewed this year. President Bush’s 2003 budget proposal included $100 million for experimental programs aimed at encouraging women on welfare to get married.
Among the long-held trends reinforced in the census report:
"People no longer feel they have to rush down the aisle," said Marshall Miller, co-founder of the Boston-based Alternatives to Marriage Project. "The earlier people are married, the more likely they are to get divorced."
Which partly explains why more educated people tend to stay married, Miller said. His rationale: They are more mature when they tie the knot, and presumably have spent more time courting their future spouse.
In fall 1996, 92 out of 1,000 never-married men ages 25 to 44 with a bachelor’s degree got married within the previous year, compared with 59 out of 1,000 men of the same age with just a high school degree.
And women who graduated from college were less likely to divorce in the previous year than those who just had a high school education.
Long-held stereotypes of family makeup are slowly dissolving, said David Popenoe of the National Marriage Project, a think tank at Rutgers University. The group studies marriage trends and ways of strengthening marriage, he said.
"In the past, guys would look for a stay-at-home housewife," he said. "Young guys today are looking for someone with some money — and that requires an education."
Roughly 9 out of 10 Americans were expected to marry in their lifetimes, the report projected. While still high, it’s a change from the 1950s, when everyone was expected to get married, said Thomas Coleman, executive director of the Los Angeles-based American Association of Single People.
A study released earlier this week from the Brookings Institution, a liberal-leaning think tank, also noted that suburban neighborhoods were no longer dominated by "married with children" families.
Twenty-nine percent of suburban households were "nonfamily" — singles or elderly people living alone, for instance — while 27 percent were made up of married couples with children.
"Elected officials and corporate CEOs need to pay more attention to the wants and needs of unmarried Americans, especially since this constituency keeps growing," Coleman said.
Other highlights:
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