Almost four in ten American couples now believe that marriage is becoming obsolete¹, according to a new survey published yesterday.

根据昨天发布的一项新调查，如今近四成美国情侣认为结婚正在变得过时。

More than ever before, people in the US are coming to believe that wedding bells aren’t necessary for a happy family.

With US census²（调查，普查） figures revealing that marriages for adults eighteen and over were at an all-time low of 52 per cent, an increasing number of children are growing up out of wedlock³.

The Pew Research Centre poll, carried out with Time magazine, showed that nearly one in three American children are now living with a parent who is divorced, separated or never married.

That’s a five-fold increase from 1960. Broken down further, about 15 per cent have parents who are divorced or separated and 14 per cent who were never married.

Within those two groups, a sizable chunk⁴ – 6 per cent – have parents who are live-in couples who opted⁵ to raise kids together without getting hitched⁶.

The 39 per cent of Americans who now think marriage is on the way out is a significant increase from 1978, when just 28 per cent felt that way.

When asked what constitutes a family, the vast majority of Americans agree that a married couple, with or without children, fits that description.

But four of five surveyed pointed⁷ also to an unmarried, opposite-sex couple with children or a single parent. Three of five people said a same-sex couple with children was a family.

‘Marriage is still very important in this country, but it doesn't dominate family life like it used to,’ said Andrew Cherlin, a professor of sociology and public policy at Johns Hopkins University.

The changing views of family are being driven largely by young adults 18-29, who are more likely than older generations to have an unmarried or divorced parent or have friends who do.

But economic factors, too, are playing a role.

It was a sharp one-year increase that analysts⁸ largely attributed to people unwilling⁹ to make long-term marriage commitments in the face of persistent¹⁰ unemployment.

Still, the study indicates that marriage isn't going to disappear anytime soon.

Despite a growing view that marriage may not be necessary, 67 per cent of Americans were upbeat（乐观的，上升的） about the future of marriage and family.