This paper will report on six effects marriage has on America and its people. These include who, when, why, what, and where. We will look at who marries whom, when people get married, why the rate of marriage is at such a low, what effect marriage has on America, and where the instability in marriage come from.
Our first topic of study includes who marries whom. In general, American people tend to marry individuals of the same social and economical class. Some marriages do occur outside this class, however they usually do not move very far. Women are more likely than men to marry for the purpose of attaining a higher social status (Collins and Coltrane 265). Religion and race also determine who people tend to marry. During the 1960's, there was a tendency in America to marry within your own religion. For example, 79% of Catholics, 91% of Protestants, and 92% of Jews married someone within their religion. Today, religious intermarriages in America are more common. For instance, 40% of Jews marry non-Jews (268). Likewise, 98% of all marriages take place within the same race. Interracial marriages have been a recent development. Until 1967, 17 states declared interracial marriage illegal. The most common interracial marriages include Native American women (54% of their marriages are interracial), Japanese American women (41%), and Filipino women (32%). The majority of these marriages are to white men (265-266). Interracial marriages are slowly becoming more socially acceptable and therefore paving the way for acceptance of multiculturalism in America. .
In their book, Sociology of Marriage and the Family, Collins and Coltrane help to answer when American people marry. Prior to the 1990's, it was common for working class women to marry in their teens. Conversely, working class women typically marry around the age of seventeen to nineteen. Some will marry even earlier.