While fewer Americans are married than in previous generations, the desire to wed has not disappeared - even as divorce, cohabitation and remarriage are reshaping family life, a study suggests.
The findings come from The State of Today’s Family, a report by faith-based research organisation Barna, produced as part of its multi-year Flourishing Families Initiative.
Drawing on national polling, the study outlines five major shifts affecting relationships in the US and raising fresh challenges for churches and community leaders.
It found that just under half of American adults are currently married - 46% in Barna’s data, similar to the US Census Bureau’s 51%. In 1950, roughly two-thirds of adults were married.
The decline is driven largely by an increase in people who have never married. Men now enter their first marriage at an average age of just over 30, and women at about 29 — around eight years later than in 1950.
Researchers say this delay means singleness in adulthood is becoming a significant, and often long, chapter of life rather than a brief prelude to marriage.
Nearly one in five adults (18%) report having previously experienced a marriage breakdown. Yet over half of those - 55% - have since remarried, helping to keep the share of currently divorced adults relatively stable at nearly 10% over the last 20 years.
The pattern points to growing repeat marriage rather than widespread rejection of the institution, the report notes, underscoring demand for church support both after divorce and as couples enter second or later marriages.
Only 8% of US adults currently share a home with a romantic partner outside marriage, according to US census figures. That proportion has grown from almost zero in 1970 but still represents a minority.
Public opinion, however, has shifted sharply. Barna’s survey finds that 58% of adults — and 42% of Christians who live out their faith — view cohabiting before marriage as a “wise” step.
The organisation says the gap between church teaching and social norms is widening, forcing pastors to consider how they address couples who see moving in together as prudent rather than controversial.
Furthermore, when it comes to marital breakdown, Christian experiences broadly mirror those of the wider population.
Around one in five non-practising Christians, and 16% of both practising Christians and non-Christians, say they have been divorced.
Christians who divorce are somewhat more likely to marry again: 58% report remarrying, compared with 55% of all adults.
As a result, Christians overall are still more frequently found to be married — one or more times — than people of other faiths or no faith.
Finally, young adults appear torn between valuing marriage and questioning its role. Barna reports that 81% of Gen Z respondents view marriage positively, a lower share than older generations but still a strong majority.
Among those who are single, 78% of Gen Z and 73% of Millennials say they hope to marry someday. Yet Gen Z is the least likely generation to deem marriage essential for raising children, suggesting a more flexible view of what constitutes a family.
As Millennials move into midlife, their marriage rates are climbing - 42% are currently married, with just 5% divorced - while Baby Boomers are the most likely to have experienced divorce, at 30%.
Barna’s research also turns the spotlight on Protestant clergy. About nine in ten pastors are presently married — far higher than the national figure of roughly one in two adults — and almost all of them (97%) have been married at some time in their lives.
Nearly one in five (18%) of pastors say they have gone through a divorce — similar to the general population — but they are significantly more inclined to remarry.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of divorced pastors have wed again, leaving only 4% of pastors currently divorced.
The report concluded: “Marriage may look different today, but it remains a sacred aspiration woven into the lives of most adults, Christian or not. As cultural definitions shift, the Church’s opportunity is not simply to defend marriage, but to disciple people toward healthy, enduring relationships that reflect God’s covenant love.”
