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Married Couples
an article by our site
41% of first marriages in the U.S. end in divorce
There are still married couples with children in the US, but just less than there used to be. It was the path most taken in the 1950s, but now it is just one of many paths taken. People have kids whether married or not, and married people often remain childless, and some couples stay together for a long time but have neither kids nor marriage.
Getting married was once the only socially acceptable choice, but these days there are plenty of socially acceptable choices
There used to be a stigma put on not following the crowd and conforming, but these days (2017) people do whatever they feel like and others simply accept their choices. Okay, some die-hard conservatives and some die-hard fundamentalists, and some ultra-conformists disparage these liberal choices, and it gives them something to bitch about to whomever will listen—if indeed there is such a person.
Is the traditional 'married couples with children' lifestyle on its way to becoming extinct?
| Year | Number | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 34,075,000 | 78% |
| 1960 | 39,200,000 | 74% |
| 1970 | 44,700,000 | 70% |
| 1980 | 48,990,000 | 60.1% |
| 1990 | 52,837,000 | 56.3% |
| 2000 | 54,493,000 | 51.7% |
| 2010 | 56,510,000 | 48.4% |
Total Married-Couple Households with Children
| Year | Number | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 34,075,000 | 43% |
| 1960 | 23,497,790 | 44% |
| 1970 | 24,544,583 | 40% |
| 1980 | 24,265,405 | 30.8% |
| 1990 | 23,494,726 | 26.1% |
| 2000 | 24,835,505 | 23.4% |
| 2010 | 24,575,000 | 20.9% |
Families and Married-Couples without Children
| Year | Unmarried | Married |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 35,797,000 | 28,826,000 |
| 2000 | 38,552,000 | 30,810,000 |
| 2005 | 42,034,000 | 33,413,000 |
| 2010 | 45,692,000 | 36,182,000 |