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06/24/2004 Archived Entry: "Survey: Men's marital hopes and fears"

Posted by steve @ 01:40 AM EST [Link]

ONLY ONE-FIFTH?: Interesting study released by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University on Wednesday:

While most single young men aspire to marriage, about one-fifth are deeply skeptical of the institution and their prospects of making it work, according to a new national survey which closely links men's marital outlook to their upbringing.

The survey, released Wednesday by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, found that the men with negative attitudes were far more likely than the rest to have been raised by a divorced parent in a non-churchgoing family.

I'm one of those one-fifth (though I came from a sometimes churchgoing family that didn't divorce) and I actually think the number is higher. I know a lot of guys in their early 30s who are single and have no interest in getting married. I've been trying to figure out why a large number of men aren't interested in marriage and haven't come up with any really good answers. A lot seem to be distrusting of the institution, enjoy the fact that all the money they earn is theirs to spend as they please, they don't trust women or they prefer...emmm...casual relationships.

Why am I single? Well, I probably fall into the camp that enjoys their independence. When I was working I rather liked the fact that if I wanted to spend my money on a stupid extravagence, I could. If I wanted to go out and 'socialize', dagnamit, I could! Football on Sunday? All day baby, all day! Still, Frank Sinatra had it right. Before he died Old Blue Eyes said that you knew the time was right when you were up at 3:00am and the thought passed your head that perhaps there was something more in life...

At any rate, there are wider societal implications to all of this. At least 20 per cent of American males aren't enamoured of an institution which is the foundation of their society. Blame it on feminism, high divorce rates, economic independence of women or screwed up guys but the fact remains that there is a large chunk of the population that may drop out of the traditional path that most lives take. That can only cause problems in the future.

Read on.