DESERET NEWS: The benefits of marriage shouldn’t only be for elites

Jun 2

Last month we reported on a social capital gap, with upper middle class families getting married, and working class and the poor less so. A divide that didn't exist in the 1970s.

Yet many on the left are skeptical that anything can be done about this marriage divide, at least from a government policy point of view.

In this piece for Deseret News published June 1, 2022, report authors Bradford Wilcox and Chris Bullivant respond to a thoughtful blog by Matthew Yglesias in which he expresses his concern that not much can be done. Follows is a discussion of five policy proposals designed to fix the marriage divide at the heart of a decline in social capital creation in America today.

“In 1970, there was virtually no marriage divide in America. Whether rich or poor, middle class or working class, a clear majority of men and women were stably married.

No more. A new report we published at the Social Capital Campaign spotlights a growing marriage divide that separates Americans by class and education. Of 18- to 55-year-olds, the share of those who are married from an upper-class background is 60%. However, this figure falls to 20% for the poor. (It is 40% for the working class.) Again, what is especially striking about this divide is that it was basically nonexistent in the 1970s.

Today, whether you consider marriage to be a cultural construct, an expression of romantic love or a union divinely ordained, it’s still the case that most men and women in America wish to marry — and marry well. However, working-class and poor Americans are struggling to make good on this dream, with only the most educated and affluent among us having a good shot at dreams for a strong and stable family life.”

Full the full article continue on at Deseret News