Four in ten say marriage is becoming obsolete

An AP article yesterday titled "Four in 10 say marriage is becoming obsolete" reports troubling cultural trends in the US relating to marriage and family.  The article reads in part:

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.

This is the context in which the contemporary church must minister the Word.

JTR