is marriage old fashioned?
Thursday, July 28, 2005
By MAKEBA SCOTT HUNTER
HERALD NEWS

Despite a seemingly endless parade of celebrity brides gracing tabloid covers this summer, a recent report out of Rutgers University asserts that, back in the real world, fewer people are walking down the aisle these days.

The report, "The State of Our Unions 2005," by The National Marriage Project at Rutgers, cites the growing popularity of cohabitation, or "shacking up," as the main culprit for the downtrend.

Nationwide, the marriage rate has fallen from 1976, when 77 out of every 1,000 single women were wed, to fewer than 40 per 1,000 last year. The number of opposite-sex couples living together has risen dramatically to more than 5 million today, up from 439,000 in 1960. In New Jersey, the never-marrieds rank 14th and ninth in the nation for men and women respectively, according to 2003 Census estimates.

Story (don't miss this-read what the Episcopal priest has to say!)