What's killing the nuclear family?

Did you know that in the United States, 45% of children are born out of wedlock? And more than 40% of children will spend some time in a cohabitating household? Those figures make me uneasy. Too many of us are not providing the best - the "gold standard" (as Amy Wax describes the nuclear family in this paper) - for our children! But, why? I have long since held these views on my own, but Amy Wax, a Law professor at Penn describes the reasons for these declines in nuclear family structure with the statistical knowledge/academic papers to back them up.

What are the two top reasons for the disintegration of the nuclear family?

Image Credit: HikingArtist.com

• "The rise of Individualism." - You can read the abstract and the whole paper here.

Image Credit: HikingArtist.com

• "The demoralization of sex." - This is what she says in this video discussion on why marriage matters at about 4:08.

Some blame economics, because marriage is more prevalent among the richer more educated segments of the population. Amy Wax doesn't believe not having wealth is the cause for the decline, rather she blames culture. She says marriage rates were much higher in the past when families were living on much lower incomes compared to what we live on today. I agree. I believe the influence to marry is more cultural than economic. I think social/cultural attitudes do influence people to believe they have to have "all their ducks in a row," so to speak, before they marry and have children. And, in my opinion that should not be the case.

I'm not suggesting that couples not plan to be financially responsible for their children - that is important too! But, I think we go too far in what we believe are necessities for our children. A child having to wear clothing from a thrift store on occasion or having fewer toys would be much less harmful than the other increased risks of outcomes we see from children coming from homes where marriages or relationships have failed. Namely, psychological distress from not knowing where they belong, lower high school graduation rates, higher teen pregnancy rates, higher crime rates, etc.

But I digress. There will be plenty more posts on this blog about why the decline of the nuclear family is a problem as well as suggestions on how we can combat this phenomenon. This post is merely seeking to address the WHY of the problem(s). Because if we know what the roots are, we can take down the tree.

Do you agree? What do you think is(are) the biggest cause(s) for the decline of the nuclear family?