For The First Time, Married Couples Are No Longer a Majority in the US, Census Finds

[metta]

For The First Time, Married Couples Are No Longer a Majority in the US, Census Finds

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/us/26marry.html

 

[fetaby]

So much for being the "cornerstone of civilization"...

 

[paatreides]

See... I definitely believe gays should be allowed to get married. Along with the other 1100+ rights you lose out on, I think you should also have the right to be as miserable as the rest of us poor schmucks!

 

[star-warrior]

Don't tell them that, they'll be wanting more priviledges being a minority and all that...

 

[billybob109]

This is good. Marriage is evil! It leads to divorce, broken homes and worst of all kids. What says that becuase someone is happy together that they need a piece of paper saying they one another for ever?

 

[SilverWolf]

Once gay marriage is legal in all 50 states, the percentage of married couples will rise again, but I really long for the day where it's really only those couples (gay or straight) that really should be married that are out there doing it.

Sometimes I wonder how much marriage will rise, once gay marriage is legalized. Same sex marriage and recognition of same sex relationships (civil unions, domestic partnerships) haven't exactly stopped the plummeting marriage rates in parts of Europe.

In France, civil unions are actually outnumbering marriage. But France doesn't have same sex marriage.

In France, Civil Unions Gain Favor Over Marriage

But the attractiveness of civil unions to heterosexual couples was evident from the start. In 2000, just one year after the passage of the law, more than 75 percent of civil unions were signed between heterosexual couples. That trend has only strengthened since then: of the 173,045 civil unions signed in 2009, 95 percent were between heterosexual couples.

While the partnerships have exploded in popularity, marriage numbers have continued a long decline in France, as across Europe. Just 250,000 French couples married in 2009, with fewer than four marriages per 1,000 residents; in 1970, almost 400,000 French couples wed.

Germany, too, has seen a similar plunge in marriage rates. In 2009, there were just over four marriages per 1,000 residents compared with more than seven per 1,000 in 1970. In the United States, the current rate is 6.8 per 1,000 residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

[sixthson]

I have serious doubts about how many gays will actually get married. Sometimes I think the fight for the right to marry is more political muscle flexing than anything.

 

[metta]

^
it is mainly about justice and fairness...equal treatment under the law. However, there are a lot of couples that it will also help as well.