Only 36% of Republicans think it’s important couples with children should be married

[Del Tachi]

This a pretty doomer poll

I don't really see what's bad about it.

The core of social conservatism should be about the  nuclear family yet a majority of conservatives now no longer thing that’s important

The nuclear family (i.e., a married couple and their minor children under one roof) is relatively new as a normative model.  Nuclear families would not have been the unquestioned assumption they are today during pre-industrial times when most Americans lived on farms, for instance. 

[Del Tachi]

This a pretty doomer poll

I don't really see what's bad about it.

The core of social conservatism should be about the  nuclear family yet a majority of conservatives now no longer thing that’s important

The nuclear family (i.e., a married couple and their minor children under one roof) is relatively new as a normative model.  Nuclear families would not have been the unquestioned assumption they are today during pre-industrial times when most Americans lived on farms, for instance. 

Sure but weren’t joint families more common then

Yeah exactly, that's the point.

Our conception of "family" is mostly dictated by broader economic and social trends.  The ideal that only one or two working adults could provide a comfortable, middle class upbringing to their children could have never taken hold without the postwar economic boom and the massive productivity gains that defined the 20th century.

[Del Tachi]

This a pretty doomer poll

I don't really see what's bad about it.

The core of social conservatism should be about the  nuclear family yet a majority of conservatives now no longer thing that’s important

The nuclear family (i.e., a married couple and their minor children under one roof) is relatively new as a normative model.  Nuclear families would not have been the unquestioned assumption they are today during pre-industrial times when most Americans lived on farms, for instance. 

Sure but weren’t joint families more common then

Yeah exactly, that's the point.

Our conception of "family" is mostly dictated by broader economic and social trends.  The ideal that only one or two working adults could provide a comfortable, middle class upbringing to their children could have never taken hold without the postwar economic boom and the massive productivity gains that defined the 20th century.

Sure but then you need something to replace the previous system with, rather than just breaking the family structure up .


Like if there was a trend back to joint families then I wouldn’t say it is  bad but we aren’t having that

Well, the new system itself is reflective of certain realities:  fewer marriageable men due to high incarceration rates and less well-paying blue-collar work, a more robust social safety net for young children, women with young children not being very active/sought after in the marriage market, etc.  Start tinkering to change some of these things and you'll see the state of American family start to trend in a different direction.     

[Del Tachi]

Marriage isn't for everyone. Some couples are better off being together and not getting married. For some people marriage changes the feel of the relationship.

Marriage should change the feel of the relationship, lmao