In the last third of the 20th century, various commentators began to express concerns about a phenomenon known as social atomization. The idea was that human beings throughout history had existed in a rich and satisfying web of relationships including families, churches, guilds, and local communities. In The Quest for Community, Robert Nisbet observed that the various associations that meaningfully connected people (such as church and family) were declining, while massive institutions that dominated individuals (such as corporations and governments) were growing in power and influence. The erosion of personal ties threatened social atomization that would leave people increasingly isolated. If Nisbet and others hoped to bring about change through their well-reasoned and masterfully crafted warnings, it appears now those arguments failed to counter the forces of modernity.
When Daniel Patrick Moynihan completed his famous report on the black family in the 1960s, it contained his deep concern over the fact that as many as a quarter of black children were being born to unmarried mothers. Moynihan’s worry now seems quaint by comparison. Today, we are near the point of having a majority of all births in the United States occurring outside of marriage. One might be tempted to assert that such concerns are purely moralistic, but the simple truth is that social statistics have long confirmed that children born to and raised by married parents perform far better as a group than their peers who do not share such benefits. These benefits constitute a kind of “social capital” that may be of greater benefit than the financial kind. A recent book even argued that traditional upbringing constitutes a kind of privilege.
While earlier concerns had to do with the impact of fatherlessness on children, there is a new story that demonstrates further unraveling of the social fabric. The University of Virginia sociologist Brad Wilcox and his co-author Alysse ElHage recently drew attention to a shocking new indicator of vast change in the lived experience of Americans. When I was born over five decades ago, approximately 54% of all Americans between 18 and 55 were married with children. Today, that number is a mere 32%. During the same period, the number of Americans between 18 and 55 who are neither married nor have children has nearly doubled from 20% to 38%.
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Hunter (J.D., Ph.D.) is the provost and dean of faculty at North Greenville University in South Carolina. He is the author of The End of Secularism, Political Thought: A Student’s Guide and The System Has a Soul. His work has appeared in a wide variety of other books and journals. He is formally affiliated with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; Touchstone, the Journal of Markets and Morality; the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy; and the Land Center at Southwestern Seminary.