The 2023 American Family Survey shows political fractures in the U.S., and also reveals areas for policymakers to address, a panel said Tuesday

By Suzanne Bates and Lois M. Collins

A new survey of American families shows how the “storm clouds of politicization” affect who decides to get married and other aspects of family life, one of the lead researchers said during a panel discussion that brought together leading experts on family in Washington, D.C., Tuesday.

And marriage is not the only place with hints of rough weather when it comes to how Americans see family life, Christopher F. Karpowitz, co-author and co-investigator of the American Family Survey, said during the release of the survey, now in its ninth year.

The survey also revealed partisan divides over what to teach children in school, what challenges families face, and how to help the growing number of families facing economic crises as government programs that existed during the pandemic have ended.

Partisan ideology colors views on abortion, whether sagging fertility rates are good or bad, and even to what extent social media contributes to teen mental health challenges.

The survey found while most married people enjoy their own marriages, they think the institution of marriage is in trouble. And support for marriage is declining among groups that used to be among the most apt to marry, including those with high levels of education and good income, said Karpowitz, who remotely joined the panel discussion to release the survey’s 2023 findings.

The survey was conducted by YouGov for the Wheatley Institute and the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University and Deseret News. The nationally representative sample of 3,000 U.S. adults has an error margin of 2.1 percentage points.

“It’s especially concerning when that kind of culture war rhetoric has the potential to undermine the things that really do support families, and that would help families at all income levels,” said Karpowitz, who co-wrote the study with Jeremy C. Pope. The two are political science professors at BYU.

https://www.deseret.com/2023/12/5/23989275/americans-facing-the-storm-clouds-of-politicization