Despite the many efforts of the Bush Adminstration to drag women and men into holy wedlock via faith-based marriage programs, the number of married women has continued to decline.
This in spite of the fact that U.S. Welfare policy is constructed around the idea that the only fate worse than being single and female is death.
The Bush Administration has even robbed child support funds and bribed alleged journalists to push
But like everything Bush touches, this too has failed.
Unlike the not-so-good old days, ordinary women are now free to live outside of marriage if they so choose. And for various reasons large numbers of women are choosing to spend some serious time outside of wedlock.
Snippets from the New York Times:
In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000.
Several factors are driving the statistical shift. At one end of the age spectrum, women are marrying later or living with unmarried partners more often and for longer periods. At the other end, women are living longer as widows and, after a divorce, are more likely than men to delay remarriage, sometimes delighting in their newfound freedom.
Over all, a larger share of men are married and living with their spouse — about 53 percent compared with 49 percent among women. “For better or worse, women are less dependent on men or the institution of marriage,” Dr. Frey said.
Carol Crenshaw, 57, of Roswell, Ga., was divorced in 2005 after 33 years and says she is in no hurry to marry again. “I’m in a place in my life where I’m comfortable,” said Ms. Crenshaw, who has two grown sons. “I can do what I want, when I want, with whom I want. I was a wife and a mother. I don’t feel like I need to do that again.”
The proportion of married people, especially among younger age groups, has been declining for decades. Between 1950 and 2000, the share of women 15-to-24 who were married plummeted to 16 percent, from 42 percent. Among 25-to-34-year-olds, the proportion dropped to 58 percent, from 82 percent.
“Although we can help people ‘do’ marriage better, it is simply delusional to construct social policy or make personal life decisions on the basis that you can count on people spending most of their adult lives in marriage,” said Professor Coontz, the author of “Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage.”
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