New Research
Most men still the marrying kind
Archived article from Sep 20, 2004
While most single young men aspire to marriage, about one-fifth are deeply skeptical of the institution and the prospects of making it work, according to a nationwide survey by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers.
The study, “The Marrying Kind: Which Men Marry and Why,” released in June, found that men who make the best marriage “bets” come from traditional families and religious backgrounds. Of the 1,010 men ages 25-34 surveyed, 569 were married.
“The findings suggest that the experience of growing up with both parents is an important factor influencing young men’s desires for, and confidence in, marriage,” said David Popenoe, a sociology professor and co-director of the National Marriage Project.
The survey also identified a small but significant percentage of unmarried men who might be considered poor candidates for marriage. Two of 10 unmarried men reported little desire for marriage and displayed negative attitudes toward women, children and the institution of marriage itself. These marriage-phobic men were more likely than other unmarried men in the sample to have come from nontraditional families, to be nonreligious and to have fathers who were not involved in their lives.
“Young women often find the search for a marriage partner daunting and confusing, since not everyone in the partner market is interested in marriage,” says Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, the project’s co-director. “These findings may help marriage-minded women identify the men who are most likely to be the marrying kind.”
Other key findings include: 94 percent of married men say that they are happier being married than being single, 73 percent of married men say their sex lives are better since getting married and 68 percent say marriage has helped them become more financially stable.
Only 36 percent of unmarried men agree “single men have better sex lives than married men,” and two-thirds of all young men surveyed disagree with the statement that “the main purpose of marriage is to have children.”
– Miguel Tersy
Return to the Sep 20, 2004 issue
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