Marriage/Parenthood

Survey Details: Conducted February-March 2007
File Release Date: 13 November 2007

Survey Details: Conducted February-March 2007 File Release Date: 13 November 2007

"Sharing household chores" now ranks third in importance on a list of nine items often associated with successful marriages – well ahead of such staples as adequate income, good housing, common interests and shared religious beliefs.

In the span of the past decade, full-time work outside the home has lost some of its appeal to mothers. This trend holds for both those who have such jobs and those who don't.

Americans believe that births to unwed women are a big problem for society, and they take a mixed view at best of cohabitation without marriage.

There is broad agreement among the public that it is harder to be a parent today - especially a mother - than it was in the 1970s or 1980s.