Marriage in Middle America: Fair to Middling—and Struggling

Rachel Sheffield / March 31, 2011

A recent New York Times article points out that divorce rates—once highest in metropolitan, big city areas—are now creeping upward in Middle America:

Forty years ago, divorced people were more concentrated in cities and suburbs. But geographic distinctions have all but vanished, and now, for the first time, rural Americans are just as likely to be divorced as city dwellers.

And it’s not just an upswing in divorce rates. Middle America is also experiencing another dramatic family shift: the rapidly increasing rate of children born to single mothers. (more…)