TELL US: Young Men & Women and Their Views of Marriage: Headed in the Opposite Direction?
More young women care about marriage than 15 years ago; more young men do not. What do you think accounts for this significant shift?
Among the under-35 set, more women value a successful marriage; more under-35 men don't care. That is one slightly startling data point to pull from a recent Pew Research Center study that compares views on career and marriage now to 15 years ago: The share of women ages 18 to 34 who say that having a successful marriage is one of the most important things in their lives has risen nine percentage points since 1997, from 28% to 37%. On the other hand, the share of young men ages 18 to 34 who say that having a successful marriage is one of the most important things has dropped from 35% in 1997 to 29% now. Today a significantly smaller share of young men (29%) than young women (37%) list marriage as one of their highest priorities; this …
VG
8:40 am on Monday, December 17, 2012
As a woman, I can't speak from a man's perspective, but I would guess that the shift in their perception is related to a woman being more self-sufficient than in previous eras. I think men really do want to "take care of" a woman and find that sharing such a role is difficult. However, I'm surprised that the stats show such a big shift up in a woman's importance on marriage. I would have thought … more ›