---
title: "Majority of Never-Married Adults Want to Wed"
description: "Though many Americans agree the institution of marriage is becoming obsolete, 61% of those who have never married still want to do so.\\n"
date: "2013-02-14"
authors:
  - name: "Bruce Drake"
    job_title: "Former Senior Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/bruce-drake/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/02/14/majority-of-never-married-adults-want-to-wed-2/"
categories:
  - "Comparison of Generations"
---

# Majority of Never-Married Adults Want to Wed

[![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/02/DN_Valentines_Day_Vertical.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2011/12/14/barely-half-of-u-s-adults-are-married-a-record-low/)

About four-in-ten Americans (39%) in a 2010 survey said they agree that marriage as an institution is becoming obsolete. Back in the 70s, only 28% agreed with that premise.

Still, a majority of those who had never been married said that they want to get married (61%). Just 12% said they didn’t want to marry and 27% said they were not sure.

Younger generations were more likely than those ages 50 and older to hold the view that marriage is becoming obsolete. Some 44% of blacks said marriage is becoming obsolete, compared with 36% of whites. Adults with college degrees (27%) were much less likely than those with a high school diploma or less (45%) to agree that marriage is becoming obsolete.

When analyzed by respondents’ marital status, these differences sharpened. Just 31% of married adults agreed that marriage is becoming obsolete, compared with 46% of all unmarried adults, 58% of never married single parents and 62% of cohabiting (unmarried) parents.

However, attitudes toward the institution of marriage did not always match personal wishes about getting married. Asked whether they wanted to get married, 47% of unmarried adults who agreed that marriage is becoming obsolete said they would like to wed. [Read more](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2011/12/14/barely-half-of-u-s-adults-are-married-a-record-low/)

*For more Pew Research findings, see: [Love and Marriage](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2013/02/13/love-and-marriage/)*