5 ms·

I read that entire article and I still don't understand the real reason richer people marry.

DanielBMarkham 12y ago
I'm glad it wasn't just me. I had to go back and check the title again once I was finished to make sure I didn't miss it. WTH, NYT? Editor's day off? Best I can figure, "Income inequality can be correlated with different rates of marriage" could be both the title and the entire article.
xercex 12y ago
Simple: 1) Richer people are mostly smarter. Smarter people see through the toxic culture and seek to marry. 2) Wealthy people are often so because they do things that help build wealth and success, Ie. marriage. Smart people descended from smart married people are more likely to follow their parents warnings about the destructiveness of the toxic culture which attacks marriage.
- rifung 12y ago
  What toxic culture are we talking about exactly? I don't recall anything in the article saying anything about anyone "attacking" marriage.
  - xercex 12y ago
    The development arresting, pro-promiscuous culture - that is blatantly promoted almost everywhere.
- javert 12y ago
  Why do you claim that getting married is smarter and helps build wealth and success?
  - xercex 12y ago
    There are many reasons. Yummyfajitas mentioned two very good ones: "Marriage is cheaper than being single due to economies of scale (a lot like having a roommate) and having a more stable income source (assuming 2 earners, it's unlikely both will simultaneously lose their job)." I would also add, as equally important: support network. I'm sure that there are more I can't think of, although they are likely related to one of those listed already.
- cageface 12y ago
  Did you even read the article? But some digging into historical census records shows that social class differences in marriage have been tied to the extent of income inequality among white Americans for at least 130 years. They also suggest that commentators who insist that the marriage gap is wholly a matter of values are almost surely wrong.
  - xercex 12y ago
    The article is purposely misleading. At best its entire premise is concluded on one small report that only looks at one source of data. Even the article admits: "To be sure, the parallel movements of economic inequality and marriage inequality do not prove that the former causes the latter." The truth is that there was some correlation always - that makes sense with what I said, which is smarter people are going to do smarter things like marry and make more money - but the extreme difference is today, not 130 years ago. This extreme and growing difference is due to the toxic culture being promoted.
    - cageface 12y ago
      The funny this that I would agree to you that, at least to some extent, popular culture is part of the problem. But I think you're going to have to back up that argument with some hard data to make it sound like something more than another predictable culture war salvo.
- Hytosys 12y ago
  This is dangerously brash and unsupported conjecture unless you've got relevant studies readily available.
ams6110 12y ago
It's an opinion piece, not a news article. His main argument is the last sentence: What’s happened is that the kinds of jobs that would get them off the couch [and motivated to marry] have become scarce in our unequal economy.

I'm glad it wasn't just me. I had to go back and check the title again once I was finished to make sure I didn't miss it. WTH, NYT? Editor's day off? Best I can figure, "Income inequality can be correlated with different rates of marriage" could be both the title and the entire article.

xercex 12y ago

Simple: 1) Richer people are mostly smarter. Smarter people see through the toxic culture and seek to marry. 2) Wealthy people are often so because they do things that help build wealth and success, Ie. marriage. Smart people descended from smart married people are more likely to follow their parents warnings about the destructiveness of the toxic culture which attacks marriage.

rifung 12y ago
What toxic culture are we talking about exactly? I don't recall anything in the article saying anything about anyone "attacking" marriage.
- xercex 12y ago
  The development arresting, pro-promiscuous culture - that is blatantly promoted almost everywhere.
javert 12y ago
Why do you claim that getting married is smarter and helps build wealth and success?
- xercex 12y ago
  There are many reasons. Yummyfajitas mentioned two very good ones: "Marriage is cheaper than being single due to economies of scale (a lot like having a roommate) and having a more stable income source (assuming 2 earners, it's unlikely both will simultaneously lose their job)." I would also add, as equally important: support network. I'm sure that there are more I can't think of, although they are likely related to one of those listed already.
cageface 12y ago
Did you even read the article? But some digging into historical census records shows that social class differences in marriage have been tied to the extent of income inequality among white Americans for at least 130 years. They also suggest that commentators who insist that the marriage gap is wholly a matter of values are almost surely wrong.
- xercex 12y ago
  The article is purposely misleading. At best its entire premise is concluded on one small report that only looks at one source of data. Even the article admits: "To be sure, the parallel movements of economic inequality and marriage inequality do not prove that the former causes the latter." The truth is that there was some correlation always - that makes sense with what I said, which is smarter people are going to do smarter things like marry and make more money - but the extreme difference is today, not 130 years ago. This extreme and growing difference is due to the toxic culture being promoted.
  - cageface 12y ago
    The funny this that I would agree to you that, at least to some extent, popular culture is part of the problem. But I think you're going to have to back up that argument with some hard data to make it sound like something more than another predictable culture war salvo.
Hytosys 12y ago
This is dangerously brash and unsupported conjecture unless you've got relevant studies readily available.

ams6110 12y ago

It's an opinion piece, not a news article. His main argument is the last sentence: What’s happened is that the kinds of jobs that would get them off the couch [and motivated to marry] have become scarce in our unequal economy.