decline of marriage in the middle class

From Peter Smith in the C-J-- on the decline of marriage for those "of moderate means and education"... For those of less modest means, marriage began to take a big beating in the 1960s, along with far higher illegitimacy rates-- with the beginning of hard-core welfare programs.

The reports take different angles but basically say the same thing — that stable marriages are down and the ranks of children raised by single parents are up among middle-class and moderately educated Americans.

“In Middle America, marriage is in trouble,” warns one of the reports, called “When Marriage Disappears: The Retreat from Marriage in Middle America.”

In contrast, higher-income and better educated parents are more likely to marry, stay married and be happy in their marriages, that report said. And they’re more likely to be in church and to have other social networks that reinforce marriage.

In another report, "The Decline of Marriage and the Rise of New Families," the Pew Research Center finds that nearly 4 in 10 Americans believe marriage is obsolete. The report is based on a Pew survey of more than 2,600 adults in October...