By Carol Morello, The Washington Post
The proportion of adults who are married has plunged to record lows as more people decide to live together now and wed later, reflecting decades of evolving attitudes about the role of marriage in society.
Just 51 percent of all adults who are 18 and older are married, placing them on the brink of becoming a minority, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census statistics to be released Wednesday. That represents a steep drop from 57 percent who were married in 2000.
Note by the editor: This topic is probably the top topic that divides those wishing to observe an Islamic way of life and those who are promoting ‘Western values’. Muslims condemn this ‘marriage-less’ society, even at the cost of ‘appearing behind the times’ …
Categories: Americas, CHRISTIANITY, Law and Religion, United States
Marriage melt down: a fatherless America
http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2011/12/religion/marriage-melt-down-a-fatherless-america-2
Four in 10 say marriage is becoming obsolete
Half of the adult Americans are cohabiting a sharp increase in the last few decades. CNN reports on a PEW survey:
As families gather for Thanksgiving this year, nearly one in three American children is living with a parent who is divorced, separated or never-married. More people are accepting the view that wedding bells aren’t needed to have a family.
A study by the Pew Research Center, in association with Time magazine, highlights rapidly changing notions of the American family. And the Census Bureau, too, is planning to incorporate broader definitions of family when measuring poverty, a shift caused partly by recent jumps in unmarried couples living together.
About 29 percent of children under 18 now live with a parent or parents who are unwed or no longer married, a fivefold increase from 1960, according to the Pew report being released Thursday. Broken down further, about 15 percent have parents who are divorced or separated and 14 percent who were never married. Within those two groups, a sizable chunk — 6 percent — have parents who are live-in couples who opted to raise kids together without getting married.
Indeed, about 39 percent of Americans said marriage was becoming obsolete. And that sentiment follows U.S. census data released in September that showed marriages hit an all-time low of 52 percent for adults 18 and over.
In 1978, just 28 percent believed marriage was becoming obsolete.
When asked what constitutes a family, the vast majority of Americans agree that a married couple, with or without children, fits that description. But four of five surveyed pointed also to an unmarried, opposite-sex couple with children or a single parent. Three of 5 people said a same-sex couple with children was a family.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_declining_marriage
Video clips explaining permission of polygamy in Islam
In English:
In Urdu:
Some Quranic verses leading to blissful family life
It is made lawful for you to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast. They are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them. (Al Quran 2:188)
And those who say, ‘Our Lord, grant us of our wives and children the delight of our eyes, and make us a model for the righteous. (Al Quran 25:75-76)
Those who believe and do good deeds — the Gracious God will create love in their hearts.
(Al Quran 19:97)
O ye who believe! it is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will; nor should you detain them wrongfully that you may take away part of that which you have given them, except that they be guilty of a flagrant evil; and consort with them in kindness; and if you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing wherein Allah has placed much good. (Al Quran 4:20)
Whoso does good works, whether male or female, and is a believer, such shall enter Heaven, and shall not be wronged even as much as the little hollow in the back of a date-stone. (Al Quran 4:125)
And one of His Signs is this, that He has created wives for you from among yourselves that you may find peace of mind in them, and He has put love and tenderness between you. In that surely are Signs for a people who reflect. (Al Quran 30:22)
Study: Older, unmarried, educated moms on rise
New mothers in the U.S. are increasingly older and better educated than they were two decades ago, according to a study on the state of American motherhood released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.
But that doesn’t mean women are waiting for the right moment: The study also found that half of mothers surveyed said parenthood “just happened.”
While most women giving birth are doing it within the context of marriage, researchers said a record 41 percent of births were to unmarried women in 2008. That’s up from 28 percent in 1990, according to the study, “The New Demography of American Motherhood.” The trend crossed major racial and ethnic groups.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100506/ap_on_re_us/us_fea_parenting_american_motherhood
Suicide in the young and vulnerable
When we examine suicide statistics, one is amazed to find that in 2006 more than 33,000 suicides occurred in the U.S. Among young adults ages 15 to 24 years old, there are approximately 100-200 attempts for every completed suicide. In 2007, 14.5% of U.S. high school students reported that they had seriously considered attempting suicide during the 12 months preceding the survey; 6.9% of students reported that they had actually attempted suicide one or more times during the same period.
For those tested for substances, the findings from the 16 states revealed that one-third of those who died by suicide were positive for alcohol at the time of death.
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/Suicide-DataSheet-a.pdf