Marriage Is A "Luxury Good"?

A few days ago, I wrote about the good news about declining divorce rates. Unfortunately, the drop in the divorce rate may have a darker side:

The divorce rate is down — not because more people are renewing their commitment to marriage, but because more people aren’t committing to marriage at all.

W. Bradford Wilcox, professor of sociology at University of Virginia, agreed but noted one reason for the decline: “More and more people are avoiding marriage altogether.”

The Census Bureau also reported that among men and women aged 25 to 29, 54 percent of men and 41 percent of women had never married. (In 1996, 49 percent of men and 35 percent of women aged 25 to 29 had never married.)

Wilcox also said more children are born out of wedlock and “fewer kids will have the protection of a married mom and dad.” According to the National Center for Health Statistics, thirty-six percent of all births in 2004 were to unmarried women.

Wilcox also said that economic status often affects marital status: “For the well-educated and well-heeled, marriage remains pretty strong. But for working class and poor Americans, marriage is getting weaker by the day.”

Bottom line, Wilcox said: “Marriage is increasingly a ‘luxury item,’ entered into by only the best educated, best-off, and happiest couples. No wonder divorce is down.”