Monday, July 18, 2005

They Can't Blame the Gays...

Or can they?

USA Today is reporting that divorces in the US have gone down. However, it is not because of more stable marriages. This is highlighted in a report is called "The State of Our Unions 2005" and is put together by New Jersey's Rutgers University using U.S. Census Bureau statistics and other data.
"Cohabitation is here to stay," says David Popenoe, a Rutgers sociology professor and report co-author. "I don't think it's good news, especially for children," he says. "As society shifts from marriage to cohabitation — which is what's happening — you have an increase in family instability."
Just to reiterate, same sex couples started marrying in 2004. They are not to blame for the decline of marriage, if anything, they will increase this number.

Additionally, for those people always knocking the Europeans and their marriages:
In the USA, 8.1% of coupled households are made up of unmarried, heterosexual partners. Although many European countries have higher cohabitation rates, divorce rates in those countries are lower, and more children grow up with both biological parents, even though the parents may not be married, Popenoe says.

The USA has the lowest percentage among Western nations of children who grow up with both biological parents, 63%, the report says.

"The United States has the weakest families in the Western world because we have the highest divorce rate and the highest rate of solo parenting," Popenoe says.

I think the Christian Right (Massresistance, Article 8 and Mass "Family" Institute) should focus on helping families and not destroying them. All the money they spend to ban same-sex couples from marrying could be better spent on making all families stronger. This only goes to prove that they really don't care about stable families. They only care about discriminating against gays and lesbians.

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