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Faith and Family in America
Poll: Americans Idealize Traditional Family,
Even as Nontraditional Families Are More Accepted
To Most Americans, “Moral Values” Means Personal Honesty and Responsibility
In a recent poll on religion and the family conducted for RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Inc., almost three quarters of all Americans agree that “God’s plan for marriage is one man, one woman, for life.” A strong majority of Americans (71%) idealize the traditional family even as divorce, cohabitation, and nontraditional family situations are becoming more accepted across religious groups. Only 22% of Americans think that divorce is a sin and almost half (49%) say that cohabitation is acceptable.
Summary (PDF, 899 KB)
Questionnaire (PDF, 331 KB)
Methodology (PDF, 44 KB)
Demographics (PDF, 85 KB)
According to the survey, the growing acceptance of divorce is also occurring among religious conservatives. Only 34% of evangelical Christians and 30% of traditional Catholics say that divorce is a sin.
On the question of “moral values,” the survey found that most American families place a higher priority on personal values than on divisive social issues. In the 2004 national election exit poll, about one fifth of voters said moral values mattered most in deciding how to vote for president. In the RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY survey, roughly the same proportion — 18% — named moral values as the concern that worries them the most. But when asked what “moral values” means to them, the largest number of respondents — 36% — said personal values such as honesty and responsibility. Only 10% of respondents said “moral values” means opinions on a social issue, such as abortion or gay marriage. One quarter said “family values,” such as protecting children.
The survey also compared the religious commitments and practices of traditional and nontraditional families. For example, 50% of traditional parents say they attend religious services once a week or more, but only 36% of nontraditional parents say the same. On the other hand, 49% of both traditional and nontraditional families say they read religious scriptures every week; 45% of traditional families and 42% of nontraditional families say they have devotions with their families every week.
Part 1: “Beliefs and Behavior”
Part 2: “Religion and Parenting”
Part 3: “African-American Families”
Part 4: “Religious Responses”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there has been enormous growth in the number of nontraditional families over the past 40 years in America. In 1970, traditional families (married couples with their own children) made up 40% of American households. By 2000, they comprised only 24%. From 1960 to 2000, the number of unmarried couples living together increased tenfold; about 10 million people (8% of U.S. coupled households) are cohabiting with a partner of the opposite sex.
Other highlights from the RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY poll include:
- 80% of Americans agree it is better for children if their parents are married, but 55% also agree that “love is what makes a family”;
- 49% of Americans agree that married people are happier than unmarried people;
- 97% of Americans in traditional families and 88% in nontraditional families say they are satisfied with their family life;
- 49% of nontraditional families and 37% of traditional families say they worry a lot about their children learning the right values;
- 29% of nontraditional families and 25% of traditional families say they worry a lot about their children maintaining the religious faith they were brought up in;
- 42% of evangelical Protestants agree that a family suffers if the woman has a full-time job, yet nearly half (48%) of evangelicals in traditional families have two adults who work full time versus 40% of all traditional parents;
- 64% of Americans agree that it is sometimes necessary to discipline a child with a good hard spanking;
- 79% of evangelicals and 70% of traditional Catholics say the law should define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, compared to 53% of mainline Protestants and 35% of liberal Catholics;
- 77% of Americans say sex education classes should provide information about condoms, contraception, and how to make responsible decisions about sex; 18% say abstinence is best and sex ed classes should not provide information about contraception;
- 82% of Americans say the government should not be involved in programs that encourage marriage.
The nationwide survey of 1,130 adults was conducted July 25-August 7, 2005 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.
Religion, Culture and Family Project
National Center for Children and Families
Interfaith Families Project of Greater Washington
Institute for American Values: The Consequences of Marriage for African Americans
Marriage in America: A Report to the Nation
National Council on Family Relations
Council on Contemporary Families
U.S. Census Bureau: Families and Living Arrangements
African American Family Life Education Program
“Family Values in a Historical Perspective” by Lawrence Stone, 1994 (PDF)
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services: Fatherhood Initiative
On Being: Marriage, Family and Divorce
USA TODAY: “Cohabitation is replacing dating,” July 17, 2005
The Atlantic: “Divorce and the Family in America” by Christopher Lasch, November 1996
Minneapolis Star Tribune: “A gender gap for the devout” by H.J. Cummins, July 28, 2005
Washington Post: “For Better, For Worse” by Stephanie Coontz, May 1, 2005
Indianapolis Star: “Muslim family values” by Robert King, September 10, 2005
Dallas Morning News: “Dumbfounded by divorce” by Christine Wicker, June 17, 2000
Washington Post: “Marriage fund for poor proposed” by Spencer Hsu, July 22, 2005
NPR: “Government’s new role could be marriage broker” by Rachel Jones, July 30 2005
Washington Times: “More homes in U.S. go solo” by Cheryl Weitzstein, August 17, 2005
Washington Post: “Poverty and the Father Factor” by William Raspberry, August 1, 2005
The Economist: Millennium Issue: The Family, December 23, 1999
American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on the Family
Alternatives to Marriage Project
“Study of Interfaith Kids Upends Ideas of Identity” by Jennifer Siegel, July 8, 2005
Search Institute: Faith Communities
To Lead a Jewish Life: Education for Living
The Negro Family: The Case for National Action (1965)
University of South Carolina: Institute for Families in Society
Boston Globe: “One man’s fantasy” by Adrian Walker, July 25, 2005
Washington Post: “Why Our Black Families Are Failing” by William Raspberry, July 25, 2005
Washington Post: “Poor Marriages, Poor Health” by William Raspberry, October 24, 2005
NPR: “Out-of-Wedlock Births in Black America” by Clarence Page, September 27, 2005
African American Healthy Marriage Initiative
Shiloh Family Life Center Foundation
The Associated Press: “Kansas Senator Leads Push Vs. Gay Marriage” by Sam Hananel, November 10, 2005
THE WAR AGAINST PARENTS by Sylvia Hewlett and Cornel West
FAMILY POLICIES AND FAMILY WELL-BEING by Shirley Zimmerman
THE ABOLITION OF MARRIAGE by Maggie Gallagher
THE CASE FOR MARRIAGE by Maggie Gallagher and Linda Waite
SOFT PATRIARCHS, NEW MEN: HOW CHRISTIANITY SHAPES FATHERS AND HUSBANDS by W. Bradford Wilcox
WHAT GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER? A CHRISTIAN CASE FOR GAY MARRIAGE by David Myers and Letha Dawson Scanzoni
IN THE NAME OF THE FAMILY: RETHINKING FAMILY VALUES IN THE POSTMODERN AGE by Judith Stacey
FROM CULTURE WARS TO COMMON GROUND: RELIGION AND THE AMERICAN FAMILY DEBATE by Don S. Browning et al.
A GENERATION AT RISK: GROWING UP IN AN ERA OF FAMILY UPHEAVAL by Paul Amato and Alan Booth
WHY MARRIAGE MATTERS by William Doherty et al.
LIVING TOGETHER AND CHRISTIAN ETHICS by Adrian Thatcher
CELEBRATING CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE edited by Adrian Thatcher
PROMISES I CAN KEEP: WHY POOR WOMEN PUT MOTHERHOOD BEFORE MARRIAGE by Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas
FAITHFUL ATTRACTION: DISCOVERING INTIMACY, LOVE AND FIDELITY IN AMERICAN MARRIAGE by Andrew M. Greeley
MARRIAGE AS PUBLIC POLICY by Daniel Lichter
FRAGILE FAMILIES AND THE MARRIAGE AGENDA edited by Lori Kowaleski-Jones and Nicholas H. Wolfinger
GROWING UP WITH A SINGLE PARENT by Saran McLanahan and Gary Sandefur
MARRIAGE IN MEN’S LIVES by Steven L. Nock
THE CHURCH IN THE LIFE OF THE BLACK FAMILY by Wallace Charles Smith
THE DECLINE IN MARRIAGE AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS by M. Belinda Tucker and Claudia Mitchell-Kernan
THEN COMES MARRIAGE: RELIGION, RACE AND MARRIAGE IN URBAN AMERICA by W. Bradford Wilcox
GOD’S GIFT: A CHRISTIAN VISION OF MARRIAGE AND THE BLACK FAMILY by Kenneth D. Johnson and Eugene F. Rivers
MINORITY FAMILIES IN THE UNITED STATES by Maxine Baca Zinn and Angela Y.H. Pok
DISTURBING THE NEST: FAMILY CHANGE AND DECLINE IN MODERN SOCIETY by David Popenoe
TENDING THE FLOCK: CONGREGATIONS AND FAMILY MINISTRY edited by K. Brynolf Lyon and Archie Smith, Jr.
COVENANT AND COMMITMENTS: FAITH, FAMILY AND ECONOMIC LIFE by Max Stackhouse
MARRIAGE: A HISTORY by Stephanie Coontz
THE WAY WE NEVER WERE by Stephanie Coontz
THE WAY WE REALLY ARE by Stephanie Coontz
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FAMILIES: A READER by Andrew Cherlin
DIVIDED FAMILIES by Andrew Cherlin
CHANGING AMERICAN FAMILY by Andrew Cherlin
DOMESTIC REVOLUTIONS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN FAMILY LIFE by Steven Mintz
FAMILY IN TRANSITION by Arlene Skolnick
EMBATTLED PARADISE: THE AMERICAN FAMILY IN AN AGE OF UNCERTAINTY by Arlene Skolnick
THE DIVORCE CULTURE: RETHINKING OUR COMMITMENTS TO MARRIAGE AND FAMILY by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead
THE TIES THAT BIND edited by Linda Waite
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE edited by Stephen Grunlan
WAR OVER THE FAMILY by David Popenoe
IT TAKES A FAMILY by Rick Santorum
WOMEN AND FAMILIES edited by Jacob Neusner
WORK, FAMILY AND RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY edited by Nancy Ammerman and Wade Clark Roof
GOLDEN RULE CHRISTIANITY by Nancy Ammerman
FAMILY TRANSFORMED: RELIGION, VALUES AND SOCIETY IN AMERICAN LIFE edited by Steve Tipton and John Witte
MORE LASTING UNIONS: CHRISTIANITY, THE FAMILY AND SOCIETY by Stephen G. Post
COVENANT MARRIAGE IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE edited by John Witte and Eliza Ellison
PUBLIC VOWS by Nancy Cott
JUST MARRIAGE by Mary Lyndon Shanley
RELIGION AND FAMILY IN A CHANGING SOCIETY by Penny Edgell
THE MYTH OF THE PERFECT MOTHER by Carla Barnhill
REBUILDING THE NEST: A NEW COMMITMENT TO THE AMERICAN FAMILY edited by David Blankenhorn, Steven Bayme, and Jean Elshtain
THE PACKAGE DEAL: MARRIAGE, WORK AND FATHERHOOD IN MEN’S LIVES by Nicholas Townsend
FAMILIES IN THE U.S.: KINSHIP AND DOMESTIC POLITICS by Karen Hansen
THE BLACK FAMILY: STRENGTHS, SELF-HELP AND POSITIVE CHANGE edited by Sadye Logan
FAMILY MINISTRY: EMPOWERING THROUGH FAITH by Christopher G. Ellison
THE FAMILY: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE OF THE CONTEMPORARY HOME by Judith K. Balswick
SACRED DWELLING: A SPIRITUALITY OF FAMILY LIFE by Wendy M. Wright
DOUBLE OR NOTHING: JEWISH FAMILIES AND MIXED MARRIAGE by Sylvia Barack Fishman
EVANGELICAL IDENTITY AND GENDERED FAMILY LIFE by Sally K. Gallagher
FAMILY: A CHRISTIAN SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE by Lisa Sowle Cahill
UNMARRIED TO EACH OTHER by Dorian Solot
FAITH TRADITIONS AND THE FAMILY edited by Phyllis Airhart and Margaret Lamberts Bendroth
INTERFAITH FAMILIES: PERSONAL STORIES OF JEWISH-CHRISTIAN INTERMARRIAGE by Jane Kaplan
CHRISTIAN ATTITUDES TO MARRIAGE by Peter Coleman
TENDING THE FLOCK: CONGREGATIONS AND FAMILY MINISTRY edited by K. Brynoll Lyon and Archie Smith, Jr.
RELIGION, FEMINISM AND THE FAMILY edited by Anne Carr and Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen
FROM SACRAMENT TO CONTRACT: MARRIAGE, RELIGION AND LAW IN THE WESTERN TRADITION by John Witte, Jr.
THE FUTURE OF THE FAMILY edited by Daniel P. Moynihan et al.
SEX, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY IN WORLD RELIGIONS edited by Don S. Browning et al.
CLIMBING JACOB’S LADDER: THE ENDURING LEGACIES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES by Andrew Billingsley
RAISING INTERFAITH CHILDREN: SPIRITUAL ORPHANS OR SPIRITUAL HEIRS? by Donna E. Schaper
NURTURING CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SPIRITUALITY: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE WORLD’S RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS edited by Karen-Marie Yust et al.
REAL KIDS, REAL FAITH by Karen-Marie Yust
SACRED STORIES OF ORDINARY FAMILIES by Diana R. Garland
SOUL SEARCHING: THE RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL LIVES OF AMERICAN TEENAGERS by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton
THE BLESSING OF A SKINNED KNEE: USING JEWISH TEACHINGS TO RAISE A SELF-RELIANT CHILD by Wendy Mogel
ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON PARENTING by Drs. Ekram and Mohamed Rida Beshir ONCE UPON A TIME: PARENTING THROUGH STORYTELLING by Hoda Beshir
MEETING THE CHALLENGE OF PARENTING IN THE WEST: AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE by Drs. Ekram and Mohamed Rida Beshir
PARENTING SKILLS BASED ON QUR’AN AND SUNNAH by Drs. Ekram and Mohamed Rida Beshir
THE STRENGTH OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER by Robert Hill
THE BLACK FAMILY IN SLAVERY AND FREEDOM by Herbert G. Gutman
THE CHURCH IN THE LIFE OF THE BLACK FAMILY by Wallace C. Smith
THE DECLINE IN MARRIAGE AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS edited by Belinda Tucker and Claudia Mitchell-Kernan
BETWEEN TWO WORLDS; THE INNER LIVES OF CHILDREN OF DIVORCE by Elizabeth Marquardt
THE MARRIAGE PROBLEM: HOW OUR CULTURE HAS WEAKENED FAMILIES by James Q. Wilson
