News Tip: Bush Marriage Plan Ignores Economic, Social Barriers to Wedlock, Sociologist Says
The economic pressures are particularly significant for low-income couples -- the group targeted by the Bush plan, says Mary Elizabeth Hughes
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
DURHAM, N.C. -- President Bush's plan to promote marriage focuses on an individual, therapeutic approach to halting the decline in marriage and ignores the economic and social changes in American society that have contributed to the decline, says a Duke University expert on marriage and the family.
The economic pressures are particularly significant for low-income couples -- precisely the group targeted by the Bush plan, said Mary Elizabeth Hughes, a sociologist who has studied the effect of economic conditions on marriage.
"The days when a young male, high-school graduate could support a family are gone," Hughes said. "Evidence suggests that low-income couples don't get married because they are priced out of marriage."
Hughes said "there is a great deal of evidence that suggests that marriage is beneficial to the social and economic well-being of adults and children." But she doubts the Bush plan, which aims to provide training to help couples develop interpersonal skills that sustain healthy marriages, will work.
"It assumes that the issue is entirely interpersonal and communication skills," she said. "I'm skeptical this plan will noticeably affect marriage rates."
Changes in marriage rates are also influenced by such social and cultural factors as the diminishing taboo against having children out of wedlock. "It's hard to see how this plan would stop this enormous social trend," she said.
Hughes can be reached for additional comment at (919) 660-5737 or by e-mail at mehughes@soc.duke.edu.