marriage
March 5, 2024
The Societal Cost of the Marriage Decline
Marriage rates are plummeting. More young people are delaying or avoiding dating altogether. Pew Research recently found that 1 in 4 40-year-old American adults have never been married. Parenthood is viewed with much greater apprehension among young people than it once was. Continue Reading →
February 9, 2022
Emerging Trends and Enduring Patterns in American Family Life
Family dynamics are always evolving, but the emergence of new technologies, shifting economic realities, new cultural sensibilities, and social arrangements have reshaped family life dramatically. But there are enduring patterns in American family life as well. Women still do far more of the household chores, including cooking, cleaning, and laundry. Formative experiences, such as divorce, parental favoritism, and relationships have far-reaching influence. Continue Reading →
July 20, 2021
Can Married Men and Women be Friends? Marriage, Friendship, and Loneliness
The time we invest on our relationships, whether it is with a partner, spouse, or a friend, is likely the most important thing we can do to ensure a long, healthy, and fulfilling life. Continue Reading →
Generation Uncoupled
Generation Uncoupled: America's New Gender Divide and the Crisis of Human Connection
Buy NowSurvey Reports
Daniel A. Cox
July 23, 2026
A Digital Divide in American Adolescence: Gender, Class, and the New Teenage Experience
If teenage years once represented a time of rebellion, teenagers’ lives today are marked less by pushing boundaries and more by building their own. Many teenage experiences are less common than they once were—dating, working a part-time job, and experimenting with drugs and alcohol are less common experiences. The 2026 American Teenagers Survey from the Continue Reading →
Daniel A. Cox, Jae Grace, Avery Shields
April 27, 2026
Strangers Next Door: The Decline of Neighborhood Socializing and the Class Divide in Belonging
Acknowledgment The American Enterprise Institute’s Survey Center on American Life is grateful to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for its generous support of this research. As Americans spend more of their time online, the neighborhood—once a primary physical location for real-world socialization—is playing less of a central role than ever before. Since Continue Reading →
In the News
August 13, 2026
America’s Loneliness Trap
August 6, 2026


