News Article: Data Shows Increasing "Marriage Gap" Between Highly Educated and Moderately Educated Americans

The latest national data indicate that marriage amongst “moderately educated” Americans, a 58% majority, is in trouble whereas marriage is growing stronger amongst highly educated Americans. “Moderately educated” refers to those who have a high school diploma, possibly some post-secondary education, but no four-year college degree, also called “Middle Americans.”

Middle America is experiencing increased divorce and birth out-of-wedlock rates while the opposite is true amongst highly educated and affluent Americans whose marriages are growing more stable than ever. This is a result of what researchers call, a remarkable reversal of historic trends. Researchers are calling this the “marriage gap.”

Increases in unemployment, declines in religious attendance, and shifts in attitudes towards marriage are the major trends accounting for the retreat from marriage in Middle America. While educated Americans seem to be embracing pro-marriage mindsets, Middle Americans are losing faith in marriage.

What is known as the “marriage mindset” – religious attendance and faith in marriage as a way of life – is now stronger amongst highly educated Americans than in moderately educated Americans. Highly educated Americans are also now more likely to attend church on a weekly basis than moderately educated Americans, whereas in the ‘70s, the opposite was true.

Data shows that moderately educated Americans have also become dramatically more likely to have children outside of marriage. For example, in the early ‘80s, only 13% of babies born to moderately educated women were born outside of marriage. Nowadays, the rate of babies born outside of marriage amongst moderately educated mothers has soared up to 44%. Data also shows that divorce rights have gone up amongst the moderately educated and down amongst the highly educated.

“Marriage plays a central role in securing the American Dream…”sociologist, W. Bradford Wilcox of University of Virginia said. “Adults and children fortunate enough to live in an intact, married family are much more likely to succeed in school and the workplace, to acquire a home of their own, and to experience upward mobility.”

Wilcox believes this growing marriage gap should be a concern to all Americans.