The share of Americans who say parents should be legally married has rebounded to its 2013 level, with the increase driven largely by Republicans and people who attend religious services weekly, according to a new Gallup poll.
Gallup found 39% of adults consider marriage very important when a couple has a child together, up 10 percentage points from 2020 but below the 49% recorded in 2006. The findings come from Gallup's May 1-17 Values and Beliefs poll.
Views about marriage for couples planning to spend their lives together were largely unchanged. Thirty-seven percent called marriage very important in that situation, compared with 38% in 2020 and 54% in 2006.
This is the first time in Gallup's two-decade trend that Americans placed slightly more importance on marriage for couples with a child than for couples who plan to remain together for life.
Majorities still describe marriage as at least somewhat important in both circumstances. Sixty-three percent said it is very or somewhat important for couples with a child, while 59% said the same for couples planning a life together. Gallup said the share describing marriage as unimportant in either situation has nevertheless grown over the past 20 years.
Partisan differences widened
Among Republicans, 58% said marriage is very important when a couple has a child, a 22-point increase from 2020. The corresponding share among independents rose from 30% to 39%, while Democrats were statistically unchanged at 21%.
Republicans also remained more likely to prioritize marriage for couples planning a life together. Fifty-six percent called it very important, compared with 36% of independents and 22% of Democrats. Those figures were statistically similar to the 2020 results.
The shift among parents was also pronounced among weekly church attendees. Sixty-five percent said couples with a child should be married, up 24 points from 2020.
Among married adults, support rose 16 points and returned close to the 2006 level, when 55% called marriage very important for parents. Views among unmarried adults did not change meaningfully, with 29% now saying marriage is very important when a couple has a child.
Age and upbringing track with attitudes
Older adults have consistently placed more importance on marriage for parents than younger adults. Since 2020, support increased among adults ages 18 to 29, 50 to 64, and 65 and older, while the change among adults ages 30 to 49 was not statistically significant. The increase was about 13 points among the two oldest groups and nine points among adults ages 18 to 29.
Gallup also found an association between respondents' own family backgrounds and their views. Adults whose parents were married when they were born were more likely than those whose parents were not married to say marriage is very important for couples planning a life together, 39% to 31%. The gap was 41% to 31% when respondents considered couples with a child.
Forty-five percent of adults raised by two parents in the same household said marriage is very important for couples with a child. That fell to 24% among people raised by two parents in different households, primarily by one parent, or by a parent and stepparent.
The same pattern appeared for couples planning a life together: 42% of adults raised in a two-parent household called marriage very important, compared with 26% of those raised in other arrangements.
Family structures have changed
Eighty-two percent of Americans said their parents were married when they were born, down from 92% in 2006. Sixty-seven percent said they were raised in a two-parent household, down from 75% two decades ago.
Those experiences varied sharply by age. Sixty-nine percent of adults ages 18 to 34 said their parents were married at their birth, compared with 78% of adults ages 35 to 54 and 93% of those 55 and older.
Fifty-six percent of adults ages 18 to 34 said they were raised by both parents in the same household. The figure was 59% among adults ages 35 to 54 and 80% among those 55 and older.
Gallup said the marriage shift also coincided with changing views about having children outside marriage. The share calling that morally acceptable fell from 66% in 2020 to 58% this year. Among Republicans, the figure dropped from 61% to 44%.
The poll describes associations between attitudes, political identity, religious participation and upbringing. It does not establish that one of those factors caused the changes in another.
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