Survey: Younger adults have different values regarding marriage, sex, parenthood

A new survey by the Pew Research Center shows that most Americans believe that births to unwed women are a big problem for society, and that cohabitation without marriage is a mixed opinion, at best. Yet these nontraditional behaviors are commonplace among younger adults, who have a different set of moral values than older generations, the survey suggests.

Pew says this generational gap helps explain the decades-long surge in births to unmarried women (now at 37% of all births in the U.S.), as well as the sharp rise in cohabitation (nearly half of all adults in their 30s and 40s have done at least a portion of their lives).

Other stats from the survey include:

• Marriage Remains an Ideal, Albeit a More Elusive One. Even though a decreasing percentage of the adult population is married, most unmarried adults say they want to marry. Married adults are more satisfied with their lives than are unmarried adults.


• Children Still Vital to Adult Happiness. Children may be perceived as less central to marriage, but they are as important as ever to their parents. As a source of adult happiness and fulfillment, children occupy a pedestal matched only by spouses and situated well above that of jobs, career, friends, hobbies and other relatives.
  
  
• Divorce Seen as Preferable to an Unhappy Marriage. Americans by lopsided margins endorse the mom-and-dad home as the best setting in which to raise children. But by equally lopsided margins, they believe that if married parents are very unhappy with one another, divorce is the best option, both for them and for their children.

When asked what items are very important in making a marriage successful, faithfulness (93%), a happy sexual relationship (70%) and sharing household chores (62%) topped the list. About half the respondents thought that an adequate income (53%), good housing (51%), shared religious beliefs (49%) and shared tastes and interests (46%) were very important in marriage.