NYT Op-Ed: Red Family, Blue Family - Navigating Post Sexual Revolution America

Dear Parish Faithful,

Christ is Risen!

Here is another solid and balanced editorial from one of my favorite practitioners of the genre, Ross Douthat. In this one, he addresses a very contemporary social issue concerning the interrationship between marriage, sex, childbirth and abortion.

Fr. Steven

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OPINION | May 10, 2010
Op-Ed Columnist: Red Family, Blue Family
By ROSS DOUTHAT

When it comes to marriage and teen pregnancy rates, there's more than one America.

Fifty years ago, American family structures were remarkably uniform. The rich married at roughly the same rate as the poor and middle class. Divorce rates were low for the college educated and high school graduates alike. Out-of-wedlock births, while more common among African-Americans, were rare in almost every region and community.

That was a long time ago. The intact two-parent family has been in eclipse for decades now: last week, the Pew Research Center reported that in 2008, 41 percent of American births occurred outside of marriage, the highest figure yet recorded. And from divorce rates to teen births, nearly every indicator of family life now varies dramatically by education, race, geography and income.

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