Astyn Lopez, 345 words
Marriage and Family
"Trends in Marital Happiness by Race and Gender, 1973-2006" By: Mamadi Corra, Shannon K. Carter, J. Scott Carter, and David Knox
The statistics from this study were taken from the General Social Survey, between the years of 1973-2006. The question used in order to measure the statistical significance of marital happiness in relation to gender and race was "Taken things all together, how would you describe your marriage" (Pg. 1388). Answers varied from 'very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy'. This question was the dependent variable. The main method was to take various answers throughout the different time periods (Pg. 1388). This analysis included only one answer from one spouse per household. The independent variables were that of race and gender. In our findings it is found that White husbands are happier than their white wives when being compared to both Black husbands and wives (Pg. 1392). The highest levels of marital happiness were reported by White husbands and the lowest levels were reported by Black wives (Pg. 1392). Although, there is further studies needed when it comes to finding the exact reason as to why marital happiness is susceptible to change over time (Pg. 1397).
"The Independence of Young Adults and the Rise of Interracial and Same-sex Unions." By: Michael J. Rosenfeld and Byung-Soo Kim
The method used for collecting this data was from the U.S. census. Using this method helped collect the data in seeing just how many couples were of interracial marriages and or involved in same sex unions. Starting in the 2000 census is when it was clear to see the difference between heterosexual and homosexual marriages, because by this time is when some states started to allow licenses to same sex couples to legally wed (Pg. 544 Rosenfeld and Kim). It was found in the end, overall interracial marriage was on the rise all the way from 1940 to 2000 (Pg. 546 Rosenfeld and Kim). It was also observed in the findings that from 1990-2000 same sex marriage also increased (Pg. 552 Rosenfeld and Kim). In conclusion, it can be seen that both the rise of interracial and same sex marriage increased from 1940-2000, but same sex marriage was not impacted until 1990-2000. Young adults were steering away from the norm and becoming what this article considers to be independent.