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#670203 - 01/23/07 04:19 PM Why Are There So Many Single Americans?
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Why Are There So Many Single Americans?
By KATE ZERNIKE
Published: January 21, 2007



THE news that 51 percent of all women live without a spouse might be enough to make you invest in cat futures.

But consider, too, the flip side: about half of all men find themselves in the same situation. As the number of people marrying has dropped off in the last 45 years, the marriage rate has declined equally for men and for women.

The stereotype has been cemented in the popular culture: the hard-charging career girl who gets her comeuppance, either violently or dying a slow death by late-night memo and Chinese takeout...

But when it comes to marriage, the two Americas aren’t divided by gender. And it’s not the career girls on the losing end. It’s their less educated manicurists or housekeepers, women who might arguably be less able to live on their own.

The emerging gulf is instead one of class — what demographers, sociologists and those who study the often depressing statistics about the wedded state call a “marriage gap” between the well-off and the less so.

Statistics show that college educated women are more likely to marry than non-college educated women — although they marry, on average, two years later.

Women with more education also are becoming less likely to divorce, or inclined to divorce, than those with less education. They are even less likely to be widowed all in all, less likely to end up alone.

Snip......... NY Times

______

Why are so many people single?

Simple: The Baby-boomers made it possible.

No-fault insurance, no fault-divorce, abortion on demand, everything is OK "as long as it doesn't hurt anyone." Does that sound familiar?

We were once a tough nation, we are now a country comprised of --- who can rationalize any action - so long as we benefit, and everyone else be damned.

How's that?

PS: And those darn Lawyers!


Last edited by Andy Z; 01/23/07 09:59 PM.
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#670225 - 01/23/07 04:28 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? °X°
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Don't you also think people are more cautious about entering into a marriage contract? (And this aligns with the lawyers, I guess)
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#670227 - 01/23/07 04:29 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? °X°
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Some of us just simply are not allowed to be married my friend.
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#670228 - 01/23/07 04:30 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? #Just Jay
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Allowed??
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#670231 - 01/23/07 04:32 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Lip Gloss
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Sounds like somebody listens to banjos a great deal.

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#670235 - 01/23/07 04:33 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Lip Gloss
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I actually think that more people rush into marriage these days, and then they get divorced and become single again.
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#670239 - 01/23/07 04:35 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Sing A Little
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Mainly, I've been thwarted by various restraining orders.

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#670240 - 01/23/07 04:36 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Sing A Little
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I like the idea of having friends without contracts. Kind of like cell phones...once I'm tired of them I can upgrade.
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#670242 - 01/23/07 04:38 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? RandomName
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TICG keeps stealing them from me...that's my problem...

and plus...I can't figure out what Church I'd be married in...hehe...
Last edited by NeophytePolitico; 01/23/07 04:39 PM.
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#670245 - 01/23/07 04:42 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? °X°
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so what's the problem other than "living in sin"?

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#670250 - 01/23/07 04:45 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Hated By Some
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Most people go into marriage with the thought that if it doesn't really work for them they can just divorce.
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#670251 - 01/23/07 04:47 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Hated By Some
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Originally Posted By: Ron Mexico
so what's the problem other than "living in sin"?


Demographics, my friend, demographics.

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#670252 - 01/23/07 04:48 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Lip Gloss
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Originally Posted By: Lip Gloss
Most people go into marriage with the thought that if it doesn't really work for them they can just divorce.

do they go into marriage because they think they need to because otherwise they'd be living in sin or something? i just don't get the beef.

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#670253 - 01/23/07 04:49 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Jokerman
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My dad always says, "why buy the cow when the milk is free?!" I just laugh at him. I know alot of people think this way though.
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#670255 - 01/23/07 04:49 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Jokerman
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Originally Posted By: -J-
Originally Posted By: Ron Mexico
so what's the problem other than "living in sin"?


Demographics, my friend, demographics.

please explain.

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#670257 - 01/23/07 04:50 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Hated By Some
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Originally Posted By: Ron Mexico
Originally Posted By: Lip Gloss
Most people go into marriage with the thought that if it doesn't really work for them they can just divorce.

do they go into marriage because they think they need to because otherwise they'd be living in sin or something? i just don't get the beef.



Maybe they think that marrying is the right thing to do or maybe they feel it will make their lives more complete somehow.
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#670287 - 01/23/07 05:06 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Lip Gloss
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so the bible says that humans are inherently imperfect which means they are capable of making bad decisions. but yet some members of the religious right (not you, in general) want to mandate that the decisions people make such as marriage must be held to an all-or-nothing-point-of-no-return standard. seems to be quite a paradox to me.

all i want to know is what the harm to society is.

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#670301 - 01/23/07 05:17 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Hated By Some
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Apart from any legal/financial advantages, what is the point in marriage? If you get married and find out later that you don't want to be together, there's an unneccesary contract that complicates separating. If two people are truly in love, they would want to stay together forever anyway, so what purpose does the contract serve?

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#670316 - 01/23/07 05:27 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? The Incredible ComplyGuy
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I don't think that living with my fiance is a "sin", we are domestic partners, we have both been married once before, my son already has a father, we both have financial security independently from one another, we both are college educated, we both have wills, and we both have property. No need for the piece of paper.

Besides, he is a nice guy and a great companion, marriage though, eh, nope, been there done that.
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#670317 - 01/23/07 05:28 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? The Incredible ComplyGuy
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I guess that's one way to look at it.
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#670321 - 01/23/07 05:30 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Lip Gloss
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Isn't the term fiance used for someone you plan on marrying??
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#670325 - 01/23/07 05:31 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? The Incredible ComplyGuy
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Besides the legal/financial advantages (which are both practical and important) I believe that getting married shows a true committment. You're signing your name on the dotted line to be legally bound to that other person. It should be taken seriously, and it should be a committment for life.

The everyday logistics are also made much easier by being married instead of us co-habitating. Insurance, taxes, medical consent, wills/estates...all of these things are made easier with that little piece of paper.
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#670327 - 01/23/07 05:32 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Lip Gloss
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Originally Posted By: Lip Gloss
Isn't the term fiance used for someone you plan on marrying??


I refer to it as a wolf-chasing mechanism...
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#670332 - 01/23/07 05:35 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Retired DQ
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#670336 - 01/23/07 05:39 PM Re: Why Are There So Many Single Americans? Sing A Little
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Sing, the point is that if you are making a truly heartfelt commitment to a person, you don't need to sign a piece of paper. Placing importance on signing a dotted line reduces marriage to nothing more than a business transaction.
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