The uplift of a stable home and family
On Thursday, many Americans likely partook of 鈥渢he mother of all family dinners.鈥� That鈥檚 the term Dr. Anne Fishel, author and co-founder of the Family Dinner Project, uses to describe the Thanksgiving tradition of turkey and trimmings that brings family and friends together in homes across the country.
Amid changing demographics and social mores, this intergenerational American rite offers a lens into patterns of marriage and family. And this year, the outlook for both institutions is positive, according to several recent surveys.
鈥淒espite shifting norms, most U.S. adults still see marriage as a meaningful foundation for family life and child-rearing,鈥� the Barna Group reported in November. And 81% of Generation Z respondents, it said, 鈥渂elieve in marriage and hope to wed someday, ... [though] many are reimagining what family looks like.鈥�
鈥淒ivorce is down, as is single parenthood, and the share of kids being raised in stable married families is ticking up,鈥� researchers wrote in a July article by the American Enterprise Institute. 鈥淢arital stability looks much different than it did 30 years ago,鈥� these authors noted in another blog, yet 鈥渘ew marriages are stronger today than every decade since the 1950s.鈥澛犅�
This bodes well for families 鈥� and for America鈥檚 children. 鈥淐hildren simply do better ... if they have married parents,鈥� according to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.聽
However, education and economics do play a role. For children of college-educated parents, 81% live with both parents. That drops to about 50% for children of parents with a high school education or less.聽
The Georgia Center for Opportunity stated, 鈥淭wo-parent households provide a significant 鈥榩rivilege鈥� for children, leading to better educational and economic outcomes, [and] lower rates of incarceration.鈥�
Harvard University anthropologist Joseph Henrich has concluded much the same about the security and nurturing power of a stable marriage and home. 鈥淚n many ways, marriage represents the keystone institution for most 鈥� though not all 鈥� societies and may be the most primeval of human institutions,鈥� he has written.
Surveys find that 鈥渇amily鈥� and 鈥渇amily time鈥� score the highest among several values that Americans hold dear. In 2023, Pew reported, 73% of American adults ranked family time as one of the most important aspects of their life.
This sentiment appears to reflect the thought of this newspaper鈥檚 founder, Mary Baker Eddy. 鈥淗ome is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the centre, though not the boundary, of the affections,鈥� she wrote.
