Introduction
Marriage and family form the core of America’s society. This is despite the fact that relations between members of a given family may differ as time goes by (Behrens and Rosen 25).
As far as marriage is concerned, men and women have various traditions and values that they value in their lives. This therefore presents a distinct approach to the whole aspect of marriage and family. The family and marriage in America has been evolving as time goes by thereby presenting a new approach to this issue.
Focus has been put on rebuilding families and marriage. In this case, the society needs to come up with a culture that is based on enduring various relationships. American marriages and families have been made stronger through a good shift on cultural values (Behrens and Rosen 19). As a matter of fact, there is a decline of marriage in America. This has been brought about by various issues and that is why this paper will focus on why people chose not to marry.
Discussion
In the past years, America was recognized as the most marrying society in the world but this has been changing as time goes. As a matter of fact, this is well reflected in the older generation that was marrying without any problem. It should be known that most people between the ages of 45 to 54 were married in 1990s but this is the direct opposite today. Currently, the marriage institution in America is decay (Behrens and Rosen 31).
The marriage rate in America has been decreasing drastically in recent years. In this case, people are postponing marriage because of various issues that they think should be prioritized. On the other hand, people are foregoing marriage altogether (Behrens and Rosen 36). The whole issue of foregoing marriage is a very complex aspect that needs to be looked at and properly evaluated.
The number of unmarried women between the ages of 15 to 44 has been increasing every now and then. This can mostly be seen in the number of children who have been born out of wedlock. Statistics indicate that non-marital births stand at 30% of all births in America (Behrens and Rosen 42). Most people are running away from the reality to endure bad marriages and that is why they prefer not to marry.
In recent years, there have been a lot of painful divorces in the country and this could also explain why people don’t want to marry. It is contrasting to note that the rate of marriages has been declining while on the other hand the rate at which people are divorcing has been going up (Behrens and Rosen 43). There is a high probability that a marriage will end in divorce and that is why people would prefer not to marry because they will eventually divorce.
Marital instability in America has been going up as time goes by and this is a reality that needs to be looked at. Most children have had painful experiences in their families and that is why they can not imagine themselves going through the same experience that their mother or fathers went through in marriage (Behrens and Rosen 48). In this case, it should be known that children from a broken family are less likely to form a good family. Apart from these issues, the quality of married life has been declining drastically.
Because of all this complexities, people are not willing to join the institution of marriage. As a matter of fact, people can not invest their time, commitments and resources in marriage. Majority of Americans have always believed that marriage should be a life goal (Behrens and Rosen 27). But going by the current statistics, people no longer value marriage as they used to do before. There have been concerns as per to why more females do not prefer to marry.
In this case, 51% of women are living alone without spouses. Most women are independent both emotionally and financially and that is why they do not want to give marriage a chance.
An increase in economic independence can therefore be said to be the reason behind a decline in marriages (Behrens and Rosen 37). In this case, women see other choices that are more important to them than marriage. There are instances where people live with partners without marrying and this is a very dangerous trend to the institution of marriage.
Social forces have also been instrumental in encouraging people not to marry. In this case, people spend almost half of their life alone and this is not good. There are occasions where young females have babies at the age of 15 and this has made them not to be considered as marriage partners (Behrens and Rosen 52). In a broad perspective, there is fear towards the institution of marriage.
Conclusion
It is undeniable that there are no good role models of marriage and this is a reality that we are supposed to face. Marriage has been loosing its value in our society and we need to look at this for sustainability (Behrens and Rosen 32). People are supposed to enter into marriages for life long commitments but they have not been attentive to family values.
America is currently faced with a lot of doomed marriages and this has complicated the whole issue of family and marriage. This could be the reason why people are not in a rush to get into marriages that they are not sure of (Behrens and Rosen 12).
There are people who prefer cohabitation and that could be the reason why they lack commitment in marriage. Some women are career minded and that is why they don’t want to get married.
Works Cited
Behrens, Laurence, and Rosen Leonard. Writing and Reading across the Curriculum. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.