Marriage and Minorities

By CHARLES M. BLOW, NYT

We often hear that marriage is a panacea for our problems — as a nation as a whole, and especially for the black community, in which more than 70 percent of children are now born to unmarried women.

Less discussed are the societal factors contributing to this phenomenon.

Let’s start with this: while marriage may be losing a bit of its luster for some, it is still a desirable institution for most.

According to a Gallup poll released Friday, a majority of American adults (54 percent) are married. Another fifth have been married or did not classify a marital status. Yet another fifth has never married but wants to.

And among younger people, nonwhites were less likely than whites to be married, but they were more likely to say that they wanted to be. Only 6 percent of whites and 12 percent of nonwhites said that they had never been married and didn’t want to get married.

(More here.)