Pew Study Gives New Meaning to 50-50 Marriages

By Paul Pannone

Since 1984 marriages have continued to decline in the United States after the pattern of a casual lifestyle and a more relaxed view of life. We approached 2.5 million weddings in 1984 but never officially reached the number at a time when the American population was 250,000 people. Today at over 310,000, weddings continue to represent a shrinking part of American society.

Couples are living together and waiting longer to marry. Many come from broken homes and want to make certain they’re making the right partner choice.

A new study by the authoritative source for wedding data and information, Pew Research, finds marriages at a new low. According to the study barely half of all adults in the United States are now married.

The Pew Research study questions information put forth by Wedding Experts that traditionally said the economy does not affect marriages, calling marriage recession-proof.

The Pew Research analysis also finds that the number of new marriages in the U.S. declined by 5% between 2009 and 2010, a sharp one-year drop that may or may not be related to the sour economy.

The Pew findings and analysis inconclusively gives a 50-50 rating to whether the economy has any bearing on weddings but takes away the unchallenged position taken by past statements; the wedding business remains strong in all economic climates.

Also included in study analysis The Washington Post writes:

The slide has worsened with the economy.

Rose Kreider, a Census Bureau demographer who specializes in household statistics, noted last year that 7.5 million couples were living together without being married, a 13 percent jump in just one year. Many had a partner who had lost a job, or they could not afford to maintain two homes.

Ongoing eWedNewz interviews find wedding industry professionals looking for other sources of income– throwing in the towel– and looking for revenue outside the shrinking wedding business. As spending and formal wedding numbers continue to decline eWedNewz is carefully watching some prominent wedding speakers lower their fees, appear at less prominent events and pair up with other speakers because the fairy dust they sprinkle becomes harder to market.

What do you think?

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