Illustration: Marriage

A recent survey from the Pew Research Center, reported by USA Today, gives insight into the current view of marriage. According to the survey of approximately 2,700 people, 39 percent said marriage is becoming obsolete. This is an increase from 28 percent in a similar survey in 1978. Cohabitation has nearly doubled since 1990. The survey says that 44 percent of adults and more than half of those in the 30-49 age bracket have cohabited without marriage. Interestingly, 64 percent of those think of it as a step toward marriage. Clearly we have done much to damage marriage, and we have a lot of work to do to rehabilitate it and its image.