Cayenne pepper. Tortillas. Eggs. Tomatoes. Lime Juice. It’s time to go to the grocery store again. Last night I read this article and it just did not sit right with me at all. It talked about the link between education, income and marriage with children. It stated that marriage is in decline in society in general, but that there is less decline among the most educated and affluent. Then it went on to state that this, of course means that poor people are more likely to live together or be single.
When my husband and I first got married, he had been with his company for maybe one year. He had his MBA and I had graduated college almost exactly one year to the date of our wedding. I didn’t have any school debt (thanks to scholarships and the bank of Dad), but we were starting our professional lives. We had a one bathroom, one bedroom apartment with laundromat across the parking lot. Our kitchen was like a quarter of the size of my bedroom at my parent’s house. When my parents got married, they had a small ceremony at my grandparent’s house. Food in the backyard afterward. They have been married almost 35 years. They were both high school graduates. Neither my parents, my husband nor I can hardly be described as “the elite”.
I think that a troubling aspect of this article to me is that it writes off several groups of people. Poor people are shacking up, not getting married, or getting divorced. Black women aren’t even getting married. People with no post high school education are failing at marriage. I think a closer look is needed than this article provides. Perhaps a look into the cyclical nature of poverty, and its affect on marriage as opposed to poor people don’t get married and you cant make em believe that stability is an incentive cause they think they cant afford it. It seems to say most Americans believe that a person has to have lots of money in order to make a basic quality commitment to his or her relationship, when I know that is not true in my corner of the world.
Maybe I see more to this article than is really here. Maybe the reporter simply and objectively reported the statistics provided by the research. Maybe I want to believe that I am not the absolute oddball that I know myself to be. At least not where this issue is concerned. Maybe. Dishwasher detergent, onions, garlic, cheese…
Marriage, groceries and the Washington Post
4 responses to “Marriage, groceries and the Washington Post”
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I was bothered by that article as well. I feel like it’s comparing apples to oranges – saying tha apples grow because oranges are orange. I can somewhat see what the author is saying about the trend among those marrying these days being more educated and advanced in their career because they have a certain view of how they want their married life to be. But like you said, it excludes several other variables. Because wouldn’t those same people feel the same way about shacking? Where does income level fall into the research done on shacking? I just don’t get it.
Where is the research done on the value being placed on marriage in today’s society? Or what about the fact that there are millions in the world who feel that marriage is not all it’s cracked up to be due to their parents’ failing marriages? There are other factors that these trends can be attributed to besides income and education.
And was it just me or did the tone of this article imply that single parents are all poor? Did you catch that too?
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I was bothered by that article as well. I feel like it’s comparing apples to oranges – saying tha apples grow because oranges are orange. I can somewhat see what the author is saying about the trend among those marrying these days being more educated and advanced in their career because they have a certain view of how they want their married life to be. But like you said, it excludes several other variables. Because wouldn’t those same people feel the same way about shacking? Where does income level fall into the research done on shacking? I just don’t get it.
Where is the research done on the value being placed on marriage in today’s society? Or what about the fact that there are millions in the world who feel that marriage is not all it’s cracked up to be due to their parents’ failing marriages? There are other factors that these trends can be attributed to besides income and education.
And was it just me or did the tone of this article imply that single parents are all poor? Did you catch that too?
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It did sort of make it look that way.
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It did sort of make it look that way.
TJs Things 
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