Attitudes about the primacy of marriage as a way of life have changed markedly over the past two decades. The legitimacy of singleness as a life-style is increasingly recognized by young people and their parents;
More than 90 percent expect to marry and there has been almost no decline in that proportion since 1960. What is more, despite the high levels of divorce, most young people say that they expect their marriages to be lasting.
What has changed about marriage plans has been the rising age at which young people, especially young women, expect to marry--an expectation reflected in the increasing age at which Africa and Americans are actually marrying.
There also seems to be a widespread desire not to let marriage interfere with education and to obtain some work experience before marriage. Marriage continues to be more important to young women than young men, despite recent trends toward more egalitarian sex roles. There is some evidence that experience with divorce increases negative attitudes about marriage and favorable ones about singleness as a way of life.
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