You know the song, "First comes loves, then comes marriage" -- but wait, stop right there. A new survey shows the popularity of marriage is slipping.
According to the ninth annual American Family Survey, more young adults are creating families outside of marriage and many are fleeing marriage altogether.
The report, which includes responses from 3,000 adults, shows marriage rates are declining among all groups -- down from 70% to 55% in some demographics -- but parenting rates remain consistent.
"Part of what we're trying to follow over time is the extent to which people are actually getting married," Christopher Karpowitz, the report's co-author and political science professor at Brigham Young University, told Deseret News. "One thing we've seen is that across all sorts of demographic groups, the percentage of people who say they are married right now is lower than in 2016."
While fewer people are getting hitched, 45% of respondents who are married or have been in a relationship for two or more years report that their marriage or relationship is stronger than it was two years ago. At the same time, 38% of them believe that marriages in the United States are generally weaker.
According to the survey, views on marriage fall into three camps. There is a Republican, churchgoing group that's largely enthusiastic about marriage; a Democratic group that is becoming more skeptical and is not particularly churchgoing, and "an odd collection of change in the middle."
The study also noted a "change on the left side of the political aisle [where] Democrats are retreating from marriage as an institution."
The report illustrates that "Republicans, with a few exceptions, argue that marriage is important, but they are far less willing to support families through government spending. Democrats do favor that spending and want to help families and children, but they are less convinced that marriage is necessary to support children."
The survey found increasing support of marriage among certain groups, including Blacks, Hispanics, pure independents, lower income respondents and those without a college degree. Those making more than $120,000 annually and those who have a college degree have decreased in their approval.