{"id":16498,"date":"2012-04-16T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/generations-differ-on-the-rise-of-unmarried-parents\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:42:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:42:29","slug":"generations-differ-on-the-rise-of-unmarried-parents","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2012\/04\/16\/generations-differ-on-the-rise-of-unmarried-parents\/","title":{"rendered":"Generations Differ on the Rise of Unmarried Parents"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the past 50 years, the link between marriage and parenthood has become much more tenuous. The share of babies born to unmarried mothers increased eight-fold from 1960 to 2008. By 2008, four-in-ten babies born in the U.S. were born to an unwed mother. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The public generally views this trend negatively. Across the age spectrum, most adults do not view this as a change for the better. Despite this consensus, sharp generational differences do exist.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fewer Millennials (ages 18 to 30) view this change negatively than do members of older generations, according to a survey conducted in 2011. Just over half (52%) of millennials see it as a change for the worse, in comparison to 62% of Gen Xers (ages 31 to 46), 67% of Boomers (ages 47-65) and 76% of the Silent generation (over 65).<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previous surveys by the Pew Social &amp; Demographic Trends project show similar generational splits on other trends relating to family and living arrangements. In a 2010 survey, a majority of Silents (62%) said that the trend toward more unmarried couples living together was a bad thing for society; only 27% of Millennials agreed. Similarly, there was a 30 percentage point gap between Silents and Millennials (58% vs. 28%) on the question of whether the trend toward more gay and lesbian couples raising children was bad for society. <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2011\/11\/03\/section-4-views-of-the-nation\/?src=prc-number\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just over half (52%) of Millennials say that the increase in people having children without getting married has been a change for the worse. Older generations hold a significantly more negative view of this trend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"bylines":[{"key":"2cc2f7781c9c7af20d4ee2c65d29cd3e","termId":607}],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[204,227],"bylines":[791],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-16498","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-comparison-of-generations","category-unmarried-adults","bylines-pew-research-center-staff","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":206,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2012\/04\/16\/generations-differ-on-the-rise-of-unmarried-parents\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Generations Differ on the Rise of Unmarried Parents","description":"Just over half (52%) of Millennials say that the increase in people having children without getting married has been a change for the worse. 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