Category: Marriage/Family

Dismissing a potentially deep connection because of a moment of cringe isn’t just picky—it’s a symptom of a dating culture that prioritizes perfection over long-term compatibility.

An important new survey from the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) on the marital and fatherhood interests of young men in America tell us that only 6% of those age 18 through 23 are married and just 25% of those between 24 and 29-years of age have a wedding ring on their finger. And less than one-third of unmarried men are currently in a romantic relationship. For those young men who do marry, most of them marry after age 30 as the average age of first marriage for men is 30.2.

Young men still view work as a key indicator of their successful entrance into adulthood, per a new IFS report.

Readiness matters—both for securing marriage in the first place and for making it work long-term. If those same blue collar and working-class people imbibe the meme without the nuance, rushing marriage without taking a realistic inventory of their life circumstances and skills, including many of the soft skills increasingly demonized in the same media ecosystems, they will be setting themselves up for failure and disappointment. As Christopher Lasch explains, “Our ideal of ’true romance‘ puts an impossible burden on personal relationships. We demand too much of life, too little of ourselves.”

When the first concerns of parents for their children are money and status rather than building families, then the odds against a renewal of marriage and the family seem insurmountable.