The Modern American Family
Key trends in marriage and family life in the United States.
Social Trends
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A growing share of Americans say they’ve had fertility treatments or know someone who has
42% of U.S. adults say they or someone they know has used fertility treatments. This is up from 33% five years ago.
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Most Americans say being a man helps a person get ahead in the U.S.
Six-in-ten U.S. adults say being a man helps a lot or a little when it comes to a person’s ability to get ahead in the U.S., compared with 14% who say it hurts
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About 8 in 10 women in opposite-sex marriages say they took their husband’s last name
Younger women, women with a postgraduate degree and Democratic women are more likely to keep their last name after marriage.
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Black workers’ views and experiences in the U.S. labor force stand out in key ways
Black workers account for about 13% of all U.S. workers, including those who work full time, part time and are self-employed.
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‘Back to school’ means anytime from late July to after Labor Day, depending on where in the U.S. you live
Most K-12 students at U.S. public schools have a school year of about 180 days, but when that year starts and ends varies substantially by region.
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Americans are divided on whether society overlooks racial discrimination or sees it where it doesn’t exist
53% of U.S. adults say people overlooking racial discrimination is a bigger problem than people seeing it where it really didn’t exist.
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More than 4 in 10 U.S. workers don’t take all their paid time off
About half of upper-income workers (51%) say they take off less time than offered, compared with 45% of middle-income workers and 41% of lower-income workers.
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Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy 60 Years After the March on Washington
Most Americans say Martin Luther King Jr. has had a positive impact on the country, with 47% saying he has had a very positive impact. 52% say the country has made a great deal or a fair amount of progress on racial equality in the past six decades.
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How public attitudes toward Martin Luther King Jr. have changed since the 1960s
About eight-in-ten American adults (81%) say civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. has had a positive impact on the United States.
