Poll shows children are ‘very important’ but marriage, not so much
Sep 20, 2016, 3:55 PM
A September poll by CBS News and the New York Times revealed troubling contradictions in attitudes toward marriage and children.
Nearly 2,000 adults of all ages were asked: “For you personally, is being married either now or in the future very important, somewhat important, not very important or not at all important?” Surprisingly, a minority of women — just 47 percent — viewed marriage as very important. A far greater percentage — 74 percent — said “being a parent either now or in the future” was very important.
In other words, nearly a third of women value children more than the marital bond that provides the best way to raise those children — a sad anomaly reflected in out-of-wedlock birthrates now approaching 50 percent.
The poll suggests that females are giving up on marriage as an institution more notably than their male counterparts; the men in the study actually considered marriage a higher priority than the women.