‘I Said, ‘What’s Your Plan About Marriage and Dating?’ And There Was Silence.’
February 26, 2024
As of 2021, around 25 percent of 40-year-old Americans are not married — the highest percentage ever recorded. While divorce rates have plummeted from their early 1980s high, fewer people are choosing to marry in the first place. Why?
Yes, around two million Americans get married every year (and you probably have the save-the-dates on your refrigerator door to prove it). But a rising number of people aren’t, even people in long-term partnered relationships. They aren’t getting married for any number of reasons, whether that’s distrust of the institution of marriage or the potential loss of access to federal benefits or a belief that marriage just doesn’t fit their needs. But in his new book, “Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization,” the University of Virginia professor Brad Wilcox argues that marriage is more important than ever for individuals and for the country.
