Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Kids what kids?

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, having children has fallen to eighth on a list of nine keys to happiness in marriage, way behind what is now considered more important, such as sharing household chores and being faithful:

1. Fidelity 93%

2. Good sex 70%

3. Sharing household chores 62%

4. Adequate income 53%

5. Good housing51%

6. Shared religious beliefs49%

7. Shared tastes and interests46%

8. Children41%

9. Agreement on politics12%

I see these results as ominous. If this self-centered “it’s all about what I wanna have and do, with little inconvenience or stress” attitude continues, future generations of children will suffer increasing neglect. This neglect will cause deep emotional pain and social chaos as their “acting out of control” behaviors negatively impact American society.
Of the nine qualities these folks mention as important for a successful marriage, only one had anything to do with giving, and that is children. The rest have to do with getting. Thoughts of division of labor and responsibilities are clearly out the window as the issue of which person might be doing more in the house than the other is more important. That sounds more like roommates than loving spouses.
When 50% more folks think that not taking one more bag of garbage to the curb than their spouse is more important to a marriage than combining love and energies into making a family, America is in trouble.
Much of Europe is already in trouble with this mentality, with the birthrates not replacing or growing their populations. Italy is most impacted, with most of its population considered “elderly.”

1 comment:

Crazymamaof6 said...

wow that is pure craziness! i don't know how you roll politcally but , they say republicans are reproducing at a faster rate while democrats are more likely for abortion and in turn, not growing their political party. it is even feasible to say eventually the republicans will have a larger party because they are the ones that are still having kids.AND obviously having kids is a top reason for marriage for me. 6 kids 8 and under! having that many kids is crazy too, but in that kind of family, division of labor is a huge factor. intriguing statistics here. i may have to rate my priorities in marriage. i feel a blog post coming on!