Future Trends in Marriage and Family

Abstract

The Census Bureau defines a family as a group of two or more people who reside together and are related by birth, marriage, or adoption (U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Subject Definitions 2019). Since the 1950s marriage and family structure in the United States has undergone a significant transformation. This transformation includes a decline in marriage, a rise in new forms of family, and an expansion of what constitutes a “family” for the general population. The historical conception of family as being the “traditional” nuclear family consisting of a mother and father and their children continues to erode. Future trends in marriage and family suggest the continued decline in the rate of marriage and expansion of new forms of family. I review trends in marriage and family utilizing U.S. Census Bureau Decennial Census and Current Population Survey data from 1950 through 2018, discuss the expanding view of “family” using Pew Research Center Changing American Family data (2011), and close with a discussion of the future forms of families.