In What Ways Has the United Nations Organisation Influenced the Essay

In What Ways Has the United Nations Organization Influenced the Conduct of Diplomacy - Essay Example Mentalities toward the UN depend on having administrative and worldwide impedance. This alliance makes it simpler for the legislature to move in the direction of a goals while national inclusion with the contention gets optional (Ernst, 1037: 2008). Activities of the UN The United Nations has not just proposed and get associated with settling struggle at prior stages. There are likewise activities that have been proliferated and composed by the UN which serve people in different nations. A methodology which has been taken is multilateralism. This technique depends on negotiators of a few nations cooperating to give answers for outside undertakings. Frequently, bigger states work singularly to make an alternate way to deal with taking care of issues. International strategies, obstruction from governments cooperating and the improvement of boards in different nations to upgrade the security of a country are a portion of the results of this methodology. The security improvement and diff erent arrangements that have been actualized accordingly can work to take proactive measures against strife while guaranteeing that people have the limit of beating difficulties currently developing at a worldwide and national level. Peacekeeping tasks, government strategy, monetary recuperation, help with wellbeing projects and atmosphere dealings are a portion of the few projects that have created because of this idea (Plenum, 2011). The idea of multilateralism attempts to conquering difficulties and to move into a higher feeling of tact. The UN can intercede and furnish changes with the administration offered with the relationship between countries. Intergovernmental associations can work with discovering arrangements while offering higher security. In the event that... This paper endorses that the idea of international strategy and the delicate intensity of the UN are encouraged by the general feeling of political hindrances that normally structure inside countries. The utilization of international strategies and the need to include legalities inside a particular country is one that causes most who are in countries to be compelled to favor one side. The primary view that is seen consistently has a contradicting view, in any event, when there is a typical reason. The contention at that point originates from strains that can’t be settled by those in the UN or different areas and manufactures a feeling of ideological interests that proceed with the contentions of different countries. This report makes an end that the idea of tact is one that is ceaselessly being modified and re-characterized. The United Nations association has utilized different measures to change this specific result and to impact the manner by which discretion works. The relationship with strategy is one that is controlled by training, proposals and the general philosophies that the UN has made. This is joined with the lawful ramifications that the UN can fortify and the plans that are completed by NGOs and other non †administrative associations. These are on the whole ready to work by changing the impact inside the UN. Be that as it may, there is frequently the powerlessness to make impact in light of international strategies and the idea of different governments. While the UN can spread explicit degrees of discretion through intervention and instruction, the constraints depend on national governments and the fundamental methodologies used to making a feeling of harmony goals and tact ins ide the district.

Bohemia and The Final Problem Essay

At the point when he arrives at the Englischer Hof, the landlord has no clue about any debilitated Englishwoman. Acknowledging finally what has occurred, Watson surges back to Reichenbach Falls just to locate nobody there, despite the fact that he sees two arrangements of impressions going out onto the sloppy impasse way, yet none returning. There is additionally a note from Holmes, clarifying that he knew the report Watson was given to be a trick and that he is going to battle Moriarty, who has generous given him sufficient opportunity to pen this last letter. Watson sees that towards the finish of the way, there are signs that a brutal battle has occurred. It is very clear: Holmes and Moriarty have both kicked the bucket, tumbling to their demises down the canyon while secured mortal battle. This bit is so tragic and shows Sherlock Holmes’ regard for Dr Watson as he releases him back. Sherlock Holmes is a respectable man in this scene and attempts to shield Dr Watson from the torment of his demise. Anyway Dr Watson is left plainly steamed saying he will perpetually respect Sherlock Holmes was â€Å"the best and the most astute man whom I have ever known†. This choked me up a little as I read the final expressions of the story. I think by and large the first individual account by Dr Watson truly works. There are a couple of issues yet they have been understood by how the narratives are composed. For a setting to be run of the mill of that of an analyst story it should be somewhat terrifying and idiosyncratic, with the best homicide secrets occurring in broken down and separated old houses. There is one striking likeness of the considerable number of reprobates in the narratives we have contemplated, they are on the whole entirely recognizable. Dr Roylott and Dr Moriarty both tall and forcing, Irene Adler is excellent and petite and Hugh Boone is monstrous and terrible. The two most shrewdness scoundrels, Dr Roylott and Dr Moriarty it says have both acquired their detestable inclinations. The scholarly matching of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson functions admirably on the grounds that they are unique, two striking characters, so extraordinary in their capacities and needs and as all associations ought to be, founded on an incredible fellowship. I think for the most part there is just a single story which we have perused which could be portrayed as a run of the mill murder secret or investigator story and that is The Speckled Band. This is the just one with an ordinary setting, scalawag and story succession. The others are not really, with A Scandal in Bohemia not having an average setting, The Man with the Twisted Lip having a lowlife who is a similar individual as the person in question and The Final Problem bringing about the passing of the analyst. So I believe that you can sort stories into classifications however it is a lot harder to state â€Å"this is a run of the mill analyst story† or â€Å"this isn’t in light of the fact that †¦ † In the end every story is extraordinary. Show see just The above review is unformatted content This understudy composed bit of work is one of numerous that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Conan Doyle area.

The Bible Among Myth

Freedom UNIVERSITY A BOOK SUMMARY THE BIBLE AMONG THE MYTHS: BY AUTHOR JOHN N. OSWALT NAME OF STUDENT: FABIOLA REID STUDENT ID: 22379938 CLASS: OBST 590 INSTRUCTOR’S NAME: DR. ALVIN THOMPSON DATE SUBMITTED: 03/03/2013 INTRODUTION The creator, John N. Oswalt, starts his presentation, talking with respect to the contrasts between the Old Testament, religions and societies of the individuals from the Ancient Near East. As The Bible Among the Myths starts the supposition while there has been no change since the 1960’s, there has been a shifted.Before at that point, Scholars accepted that the Old Testament was valid and not contrasted with some other, be that as it may, presently researchers scrutinized this conviction and have started to accept that the Old Testament compositions are like different religions of its day. [1] Oswalt proceeds by examining a most significant philosophical contrast inside the Old Testament and its peers. He expresses that there is a reasonable q ualification among â€Å"essence† and â€Å"accident. † [2] Oswalt states that a mishap can be something as comparable as hair, while reluctance is an essential.To expel a mishap won't cause change however to evacuate a fundamental, this thing will stop to act naturally. [3] â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€- The writer builds up to the peruser the origination of legend additionally copying the choice that researchers keep on varying significantly on this definition; Oswalt demands this should not discourage the person from looking for a decent meaning of the word. With the end goal for him to characterize this word, he list four essential qualities of a fantasy. 1. John N. Oswalt, The Bible Among the Myths, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009, 11-12 2.Ibid, 13. 3. In the same place. The principal trademark; humanity having almost no natural worth and the subsequent trademark was the general absence of enthusiasm for authent ic investigations. The third is the act of enchantment and association with the mysterious. The fourth is the refusal to acknowledge duty regarding singular activities. [4] Oswalt finishes up his presentation with a significant case. He underscores that religious cases are indistinguishable from recorded cases. [5] Oswalt states that dependability must be dependent upon both the religious and chronicled claims.If the authentic cases are evidently bogus, at that point no assurance should be given to the philosophical declarations, In the end, I am not pushing a â€Å"the Bible says it, and I trust it, and that settles it† perspective, in spite of the fact that the individuals who can't help contradicting me may contend that to be the situation. What I am upholding is a readiness to permit the Bible to decide the beginning spot of the examination. [6] CHAPTER ONE â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€- The principal section talks about the Bible in milieu of its environmental factors and commitment to society as a whole.Oswalt makes reference to that there are numerous commitments to way the Western world perspectives reality. The Bible, be that as it may, is the most significant donor. [7] 4. On the same page, 14. 5. On the same page, 16. 6. On the same page, 17. 7. On the same page, 21. Greek Thought: The Greek rationalists of the early hundreds of years got along these lines of reasoning that was to profoundly affect the western world. The conviction, in a â€Å"universe† rather than a â€Å"polyverse,† including, basic circumstances and logical results, just as non-inconsistency were three of their most noteworthy commitments. [8] Hebrew Thought:While the Greek scholars were battling to communicate their perspective, the Hebrews were likewise articulating their convictions by method of the prophets. Their convictions were as per the following: There is just a single God, God is the sole Creator o f all that is, God exist separated from creation, God has made himself known to his kin, God has made his will known to his kin, and God compensates and rebuffs individuals for following or defying his will. [9] Combing Greek and Hebrew Thought: â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€- Oswalt states; when the Gospel of Jesus surmised the Israelite perspective, infiltrated into the Greco-Roman world, this set up for the blend of the Greek and the Hebrew perspectives in the unmistakably Christian manner. The Greeks’ sound idea joined with Hebrew people’s confidence in monotheism. [10] 8. On the same page, 22. 9. On the same page, 23. 10. On the same page, 25 Oswalt contends that rationale was not totally evolved until after individuals understood that God not exclusively was the sole maker of the universe, but on the other hand was totally discrete from the creation.What is most significant is that science and rationale can't rema in all alone and in the event that they endeavor to, at that point this will prompt implosion. Oswalt gives a model; Hiroshima and the Buchenwald death camp and humanity’s accomplishments when it is without God’s impact. [11] CHAPTER TWO In this subsequent section, Oswalt examines his meaning of fantasy. Anyway before Oswalt starts this definition he starts to contend the very inquiry as to the fantasy and why it is addressed as of now. Oswalt makes reference to that fifty years back there would not be such a question.However by the 1960’s and as more analysts inquire about the Bible, more inquiries stimulated. [12] â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€- Oswalt wishes to apply the proper characterization to the Bible. Unequivocally, he depicts whether the Bible ought to be viewed as a legend or not. So as to appropriately respond to the inquiry, Oswalt list a few definitions presented by researchers today. As Oswalt rec orded these definitions, he likewise clarifies why he feels that they are lacking. 11. In the same place, 27. 12. In the same place, 29-30. The class of definitions falls under one gathering referred to ashistorical-Philosophical and they are as per the following; 1.Etymological †in light of a bogus and imaginary divinity or occasion. 2. Sociological-Theological †the fact of the matter is viewed as relative and something is viewed as obvious in the event that it is seen by others. 3. Scholarly †the occasions are not seen as right or wrong. Rather, the account utilizes substantial utilization of imagery to communicate its significance. [13] â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€- These definitions all make them thing in like manner which is at their center; they all put stock in the way of thinking of progression. Oswalt states that coherence is a philosophical rule that declares that everything is consistent with each other.Os walt utilizes a case of an individual being â€Å"one with the tree. † Not only emblematically or profoundly, however. The tree is me; I am the tree. [14] 13. In the same place, 33, 36, 38. 14. On the same page, 43. Section THREE Chapter three examines Continuity as the focal point of theme. Extending from part two the one thing that fantasies share for all intents and purpose at their center is the nearness of coherence. Along these lines of reasoning is seen as everything is seen as related in some structure or style. There are three significant powers (humankind, nature, and the awesome) this is the place everything exists inside the circle. 15] The impacts of congruity are various and differed in understanding. One of these impacts is taking a gander at signs in nature. The impacts are endeavored to be clarified by climate designs, floods, fire, plagues and the heavenly creatures. Different models are the impacts of richness and intensity and the distraction of the indivi duals thereof. Oswalt utilizes the case of how sexuality is so fundamental to people’s lives today is an explanation behind this impact of coherence. [16] â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€- Finally, Oswalt manages what he feels are the basic highlights of myth.Excluding a couple of exemptions, fantasies all offer the conviction that their reality depends on Polytheism. Which is the conviction of more than one god or and numerous divine beings. The second is these divine beings as pictures. The utilization of images and symbols are accepted emphatically so as to cooperate with nature and the celestial. The divine beings themselves are not see exceptionally in certainty see modest, they are not seen as real creatures. Confliction is what is required all together for the universe to develop and fantasies have a low perspective on humanity. [17] 15. On the same page, 48. 16. In the same place, 50-56. 17. In the same place, 57-59.CHAP TER FOUR In section four Oswalt returns to qualities of the Bible. Here he contends with the subject of amazing quality, where God (who has been in presence before the universe) interfaces with all things thereof. In this Biblical manner of thinking there is uniqueness with respect to the advanced conviction frameworks from various perspectives. Anyway one must remember that the Old Testament is astoundingly self-reliable with respect to the things it keeps up about the idea of the real world. [18] Oswalt gives the peruser a widen rundown of some basic characteristics.Monotheism, obviously one of the most evident attributes of the Bible that stands apart among different religions. Except for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam which are generally straightforwardly connected from the Bible. Most different religions are polytheistic. The presence of Yahweh being the main God was a characterizing trademark for the Old Testament and the Bible in general. [19] â€â€â€â€â€â€ â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€â€- Another trait of the Old Testament hypothesis is that God was in presence before the all creation. All that exist is after God and God made it.Oswalt states that if the world is loaded with disorder that it isn't because of God however the spirits of this world. Oswalt makes reference to that the B

Murder of JonBenet Ramsey Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Murder of JonBenet Ramsey - Case Study Example Before the disclosure of the body, the Ramsey's discovered a payment note in the cellar from â€Å"a outside faction† requesting $118,000.00 for the protected return of Jon Benet (â€Å"JonBenet Ramsey Would Have Turned 22 Years Old This Week; Murder Case Remains Unsolved†, 2012). This specific snippet of data relating to the payoff sum was a warning for the police at that point. The sum was the specific sum that John had quite recently gotten as a little something extra prior in the year, this happenstance prompted the hypothesis that by one way or another, the individual associated with the wrongdoing knew the Ramsey's on an individual level (Stuart, 2012). Be that as it may, without a subsequent approach the payoff note, the Ramsey family concluded that it would be to the greatest advantage of all worried to educate their loved ones regarding the circumstance while likewise planning to adhere to the guidelines for the payment request. The police started an escalated scan for the youngster inside hours just to have her dad illuminate them that he had discovered the body of the kid in the cellar. The official reason for death is recorded as suffocation due to craniocerebral injury. In any case, a more inside and out gander at the post-mortem records uncovers that the kid additionally experienced a skull crack and serious gruff injury. Proof assembled at the wrongdoing scene incorporated a garrote produced using tweed and the messed up handle of a paintbrush that is accepted to have been utilized to enter the kid's vagina. Despite the fact that there was infiltration, the police couldn't precisely proclaim if rape was one of the revulsions that the youngster endured in the hands of her abductors (Montaldo, 2013). Albeit a dominant part of the proof gathered by the police demonstrated that an outsider had caused the passing of JonBenet, there were as yet certain things that drove the head prosecutor to scrutinize the kidnapping hypothesis as a resu lt of the manner in which the kid's body was recuperated at home. Some way or another, the proof that the DA was seeing didn't mean a kidnapping situation. Or maybe, the sights of the police researching the case, and the media so far as that is concerned, at that point focused on the likelihood that one or the two guardians of JonBenet had caused her passing. Despite the fact that the specialists and media took care of the open lines that drove those outside of the case to accept that Patsy and John had conceivably killed their little girl without a second thought, the courts saw in any case. Patsy, who passed on of malignant growth in 2006, and John were excused by the government courts in May 2003 because of absence of solid proof to help the parent killer hypothesis (Montaldo, 2013). Their all out absolution came as new DNA proof for the situation was introduced, demonstrating that hints of DNA not having a place with relatives was found on the safeguarded garments of JonBenet (G ardner, 2010). With the disclosure of new DNA proof for the situation, one can unmistakably observe that, had the police not set upon a preliminary by exposure on the Ramsey's and focused rather on genuine police examination, they would have gotten the real perpetrator(s) for the situation. Over the span of the main examination of the case, the police had directed in excess of a couple of goofs that affected the case and set after making an exposure machine utilizing bogus spilled data to kill the enduring guardians. As a matter of first importance, since Boulder, Colorado was referred to in those days as a moderately quiet and safe spot for its

We made a website

We made a website I’m still working on my post about Mystery Hunt, and I realized it’s been quite some time since I last posted, so here’s a quick blog post. For web.lab, which is an IAP class I said I was taking, we made a website! I teamed up with Dylan L. ’23 and Emma Q. ’23 to make em7.io. You input the melody to a song, and then it automatically generates a harmony. Clicking the Compose button links you to a page where you can record a piece using the piano keyboard. You can mess with the song’s key, time signature, and tempo; you can snap the notes to the beat, and you can drag notes around to edit them. Once you’ve recorded a song, clicking the Harmonize button shows you the completed harmony, generated through our magical algorithm. You can adjust the chords paired with each note by clicking on the dropdown. After that, you can save your composition to your profile, and from there you can share your work with others. I thought that the harmony it generated for Tong Hua was pretty good, as well as for this piece that one of my friends wrote. You can look at the web.lab schedule here. The way it works is that the first week is a bunch of lectures, starting from HTML and CSS and going all the way to JavaScript, React, NodeJS, and MongoDB, and some lectures about designing websites and stuff. The second week goes into sockets and more info about CSS and JavaScript and MongoDB and design, and has lectures from sponsors, ending with a lecture on deployment and coding best practices. This goes in parallel with actually making a website. By the end of week 1, we formed teams and submitted ideas for feedback. Work on the website began in the middle of week 2. A hackathon happened in the end of week 2, and a minimum viable product was due near the start of week 3. Then another hackathon, and then the final submission was due in the middle of week 4. So really, web.lab just feels like this long hackathon. my github commit history: a visual representation of web.lab At the end of week 4 is the awards ceremony, because web.lab isn’t just a class, but also a competition.01 just like a hackathon! Teams can compete for over $20,000 in total prizes. We were lucky enough to win fourth prize, which means that we get some nice prize money, a sweet plaque, and a fancy lunch with the sponsors. I imagine the winners page on the web.lab site will get updated soon, so make sure to check out other websites too!02 of the semifinalists, i really liked a href=http://day-ly.herokuapp.com/day.ly/a and a href=http://h2gro.herokuapp.com/h2gro/a that programing with a single m weirds me out but it turns out that some people still spell it that way and it’s totally fine Here are four things I learned while making this website: Having good code habits are important. I only realized how important having readable code was when I needed to build upon other people’s. And I only realized how important good commit messages are when I wanted to figure out what happened when I wasn’t working on the project. Finding harmonies for songs involves a bit of grunt work. I thought that musicians just magically knew which chords work well with which notes. While some musicians  do have this superpower, it’s also just possible to apply chord progressions and music theory knowledge to find a harmony given a sequence of notes, and that’s how we automated it. My laptop is dying. My Thinkpad E560 could not handle running Sublime, a Node server, a hotloader, and my browser, at the same time. This isn’t supposed to be a lot. I had no other applications open, and the only tab I had open on my browser was the website we were working on. This frustrated me to no end throughout the month, and we resorted to a cycle of me pushing commits and testing on a separate device. After running diagnostics, it looks like one of the my RAM chips is broken, so I’ll probably use some of the prize money to replace it. It might also just be the case that I need to buy a new laptop. I do hope that my laptop can last me at  least through the end of spring. There’s no better feeling than deleting node_modules. I am done working on this website and I never want to touch its hacky codebase ever again. And here are four slightly deeper things I learned: A lot can happen in one month. I didn’t have any experience with web development beyond HTML or CSS, so I learned a lot about JavaScript and React and MongoDB. My two teammates didn’t have any web development experience at all. Looking back, I guess it’s pretty amazing how we managed to go from knowing very little to making this website, in only a month.03 in retrospect, most hackathons happen over a weekend Sometimes it’s okay not to be perfect.04 strong version that’s probably even more true: emoften/em, it’s okay not to be perfect It’s a far cry from a perfect website. There’s no privacy controls so all of the compositions are public, if you’ve ever logged into the site then it shows everyone that you’ve logged into the site, the note editor doesn’t allow you to add or remove notes, the harmonizing algorithm works on a note level which gives bad results, and sometimes there are issues when you edit a piece and then harmonize it. But while we were working on the project, I learned that we really couldn’t have everything. We only really had two-and-a-half weeks to work on it, and that it would be best if we focused on making the core features of the site as good as we could have, rather than adding half-baked feature after half-baked feature. All of a sudden, the lots and lots of advice  I read started coming back. External things work great for motivating me. Although I theoretically could have learned all of this on my own, having external motivation just makes it so much easier. I did try learning more about web development before, but I eventually stopped because I learned enough to make my personal website, and didn’t really have more motivation to continue beyond that. Going to web.lab lectures, building a website I’m actually excited about, and being accountable to my teammates really motivated me in actually learning more web stuff. It’s not just that I learned directly from the lectures, because I also learned a lot looking stuff up, but it’s more of having a reason to look stuff up and learn things in the first place. I think I’ve seen the same pattern with, say, machine learning; while I could have learned it on my own, taking a class on it gave me really good motivation for doing so. Web development probably isn’t for me. I’m not entirely excluding the possibility. JSX and ES6 and React make writing stuff for the web so much nicer than when I first started learning about web development. But JavaScript  really doesn’t vibe with me, and thinking about asynchronicity and promises is kind of annoying, and I enjoyed programming more when I’m not doing it in JavaScript. Okay, this isn’t really about web development and more about JavaScript,05 and maybe this isn’t about javascript but more about how we used javascript but I think the point is that I’m learning about what I like and what I dislike, and about what I enjoy and what I don’t. Maybe I’ll give web development another shot in the future, and take a different route that doesn’t involve the things I disliked. So, you know what, scratch that. Maybe the lesson for this one should be I tried things out, and I learned what I liked, and I learned what I disliked. And isn’t that the greatest lesson of all? Finally, a huge shout out to the web.lab team for making the class possible, which probably involved looking for sponsors, preparing material, giving lectures, providing food, running hackathons, and maintaining a blazing fast three-minute average response time on Piazza. The class is run entirely by students, and I can’t even imagine the effort that goes into running a class of this size. Thank you so much! just like a hackathon! back to text ? of the semifinalists, i really liked day.ly and h2gro back to text ? in retrospect, most hackathons happen over a weekend back to text ? strong version that’s probably even more true: often, it’s okay not to be perfect back to text ? and maybe this isn’t about javascript but more about how we used javascript back to text ?

FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCE AND USING UNIT TRUST AS AN INVESTMENT INSTRUMENT - Free Essay Example

A unit trust is a form of collective investment constituted under a trust deed. In Malaysia the first unit trust was established by a company known as Malayan Unit Trust Ltd in 1959.Malaysia introduce the unit trust concept earlier than its Asian neighbours. Malaysians can now invest unit trust online opportunely via FundHYPERLINK https://www.fundsupermart.com.my/main/research/viewContent.tpl?articleNo=593 supermart. Fund supermart provides regular investment update in the form of weekly email newsletter and quarterly magazine only to their investors. Unit trusts are open-ended investments, therefore the original value of the assets is always directly represented by the total number of units issued multiplied by the unit price less the transaction or management fee charged and any other associated costs. Each fund has a specified investment objective to determine the management aims and limitations. An investment company which purchases a fixed, unmanaged group of income-producing securities and then sells shares in the trust to investors. The major difference between a Unit Trust and a mutual fund is that a mutual fund is actively managed, while a unit investment trust is not managed at all. Capital gains, interest and dividend payments from the trust are passed on to shareholders at regular periods. If the trust is one that invests only in tax-free securities, then the income from the trust is also tax-free. A unit investment trust is generally considered a low-risk, low-return investment. Some investors prefer Unit Trusts to mu tual funds because Unit Trusts typically incur lower annual operating expenses. However, Unit Trusts often have sales charges and entrance/exit fees. It also called fixed investment trust or participating trust or Unit Investment Trust (UIT) Below are the unit trust companies in Malaysia Affin Trust Management Berhad, Alliance Investment Management, Apex Investment Service Berhad, ASM Investment Service Berhad, Avenue One Invest, CIMB Wealth Advisors, CMS Trust Management Berhad, HLG Unit Trust Berhad, Hwang-DBS Investment Management Bhd. ING Funds Berhad, MAAKL Mutual Berhad, OSK-UOB Unit Trust Management Bhd, Pacific Mutual Berhad, Pheim Unit Trust, Philip Mutual Berhad, Public Mutual Berhad, RHB Unit Trust Management Berhad, TA Investment Management Berhad Characteristics of Unit Trusts A unit trust is formed when investors invest their savings to form the trust and it gets dissolved when investors withdraw money from it. By participating in a unit trust, investors accrue greater benefits from their investments than what they would have earned from direct investment in company shares. Investment in unit trust comes with higher financial security and greater economies of scale. Investment schemes like unit trusts encourage investors to participate in equity, derivatives, debt, and money markets. Be it a regular income growth or capital growth, unit trust takes care of all types of investment objectives. Unit trusts are preferred due to their easy affordability, and excellent liquidity. Unit trusts are characterized by following features: 1. These are open-ended schemes of investment 2. Each unit trust scheme comes with distinct set of investment objective 3. These trusts are designed as per the financial limitations of investors 4. Investors investing in unit trusts have ownership in the trust assets 5. Unit trust is managed by a fund manager, who maintains the trust and tries to improve profit level Unit trusts can be categorized into two different units as follows: 1. Accumulation units are those that accumulate interest and dividend within the trust and add value to the trusts fund. 2. Distribution or income units on the other hand, distribute dividend or interest among the unit holders on a previously fixed date. 3. Creation and cancellation prices of a unit trust do not match with the offer price and bid price at all times. Profit that is earned from the difference between creation and cancellation prices of unite trusts is termed as box profit. 3.0 Advantages and disadvantages Same as any other investment plan, there are some advantages and disadvantages in investing unit trust. The advantages of unit trust are: Convenient and Low cost Investor will have professional management or expert to do the all the hard work for them in investing and unit trust can start up with a very low cost investing. Diversification Means that spreading ones investment among many securities, by doing this its help to reduce the risk and decrease the danger of losing all investment in one time. Favourable return Compare to other traditional investment product or plan the average return of unit trust is very favourable and it can easily buy and sell without difficulties. Transparency and Security Unit trust are complete transparency in the way that the price are widely published in newspapers and the performance figure are readily available for investor to compare, and it strictly regulated by the Financial Services Broad (FSB). Flexible Investing option Investor can choose from fixed monthly investing option, a lump sum or smaller sum of investment. This possible can help smaller investors to start invest relatively small amounts monthly. Easy Access Unit trust allows investor to have easy access to a wide range of investments not normally available to them and there are no minimum investments periods. Increased Buying Power Investor recourse is shared with each other investor s, allowing investor to make investments impossible as an individual investor. Affordable Investor can start with an investment amount as low as RM100. The disadvantages of unit trust are: May not suit all investor The investment plan may involve from medium to long-term investment which may not suit all of the investor, some investor may tempted to cash in their unit trust in the short-term. Loss of Control The money invested is not directly decided by investor. If the unit trust fund managers are not professional or expert enough with an investing knowledge this will put investor money or investment in a risk and sometime it may happened disagreement in investment decision. Fees and Charges Services provided by unit trust managers are not free in involve fees and charges sometime unit holder must bear with the fees that been charges because professionals unit trust manager provide the professional expertise to investor. Opportunity Cost Investor may loss other opportunity in investing other investment because the money had putted to invest in unit trust. Market Risk Market uncertainties and changes of market may affect the net asset value (NAV) of unit trust which may fall or rise thus cause the income generated by the fund to change. Liquidity Risk It related to the ability to quickly and easy trade at a reasonable price, if is difficult to sell the fund manager may need to sell the fund at a discount to fair it value, which it may affect the capital invested. Inflation Risk Return of investment may not able to keep pace with inflation in the short run, it may occasionally experience loss. Interest Risk Movement of interest rate affects the fund. It may cause the value of the investment even if the fund does not invest in interest bearing instrument. 4.0 Types of instruments Unit trust is a good investment instrument for medium to long term investment. Listed below are types of unit trust fund currently available in Malaysia. 1. Income Fund Invest in fixed income securities and huge dividend-yielding shares with the view to pay out most of the returns. Suitable for investors seeking income and some level of growth at low risks. 2. Capital Growth Fund Invest primarily in shares with the view to maximize capital growth over the long-term (i.e. through a higher unit price). Appeal to high-risk investors keen on capital accumulation. 3. Aggressive growth funds Similar to capital growth funds but with investments in aggressive, fast track shares that promise high returns with higher risk. Generally suitable for high-risk investors. 3. Balanced funds It have three objectives: income, moderate capital appreciation and capital preservation. Invest across a broad spread of asset categories including shares, fixed income securities and cash. Well-diversified and suitable for investors looking for reasonably safe investments where the risks are lower and which produce average returns. 4. Index funds Invest in a basket of shares that tracks a selected stock market index. 5. Bond funds Invest only in fixed income securities such as bonds and short-term money-market instruments. All bond funds are subject to interest rate risk and most to credit or default risk of the issuers. 6. Money market funds Invest only in short-term money market instruments such as treasury bills, negotiable certificates of deposit and bankers acceptances, with maturity of less than 90 days. Since the funds invest in money market instruments, the returns, while small, are generally more attractive compared to saving deposits. Good for investors looking for liquidity, and perhaps a temporary place to park their funds before they commit to other funds. 7. Islamic funds Managed according to Syariah principles; invest in shares and fixed income securities which excludes non-halal shares and interest-bearing money market instruments. 8. State funds Managed by the state development corporations for investors from the respective states. 5.0 Recommendations Unit trust is getting popular nowadays due to potentially higher return when compare to fixed deposit or EPF saving. Furthermore, EPF is providing an option to withdraw some or your EPF saving for the purpose of investing in unit trust. If you still wondering whether to invest in unit trust or not, you should see the reason why you should. As mention on the above, Unit Trust being well-diversified financial instruments, they are less risky than if you were to invest in individual stocks. You can gather investment opportunities from all over the world, as they are invested globally and into different financial instruments. They are managed by professional fund managers who aim to obtain higher returns for your money. You do not need to monitor equity markets closely for fluctuations. Some more, there is a wide selection of unit trusts available to meet the different investment objectives of investors. If you staying invested over time, these returns can compound to very attractive amounts, unlike savings deposits. 6.0 Conclusion From the discussion on the above, we know much knowledge from this assignment and we know that Unit Trust is an investment that considered a low-risk, low-return investment compare with other investments. There are a number of companies are providing Unit Trust for people to invest, and more and more people to invest nowadays. Advantages of Unit Trust investment are more than disadvantages even it still have some risks. In a conclusion, they are two types of people should invest Unit Trust: If you have no time or no interest to invest and to research yourself and other one is f you are high income earner like doctors, famous artists, etc. that you can earn more by spending your time on your tasks instead of investing.

Cal State Monterey Bay Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores, GPA

California State University, Monterey Bay is a public university with an acceptance rate of 59%. Founded in 1994, CSUMB has a coastal setting in Seaside, California. Cal State Monterey Bay emphasizes hands-on, outcome-based learning and interaction between faculty and students. The CSUMB experience begins with a first-year seminar and concludes with a senior capstone project. In Athletics, the CSUMB Otters compete in the NCAA Division II  California Collegiate Athletic Association. Considering applying to Cal State Monterey Bay? Here are the admissions statistics you should know, including average SAT/ACT scores and GPAs of admitted students. Admissions Statistics (2017-18) Number of Applicants 12,423 Percent Admitted 59% Percent Admitted Who Enrolled (Yield) 14% SAT Scores and Requirements Cal State University Monterey Bay requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, 92% of admitted students submitted SAT scores. SAT Range (Admitted Students) Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile ERW 480 590 Math 480 570 ERW=Evidence-Based Reading and Writing This admissions data tells us that most of Cal State Monterey Bays admitted students fall within the  bottom 29% nationally  on the SAT. For the evidence-based reading and writing section, 50% of students admitted to CSUMB scored between 480 and 590, while 25% scored below 480 and 25% scored above 590. On the math section, 50% of admitted students scored between 480 and 570, while 25% scored below 480 and 25% scored above 570. Applicants with a composite SAT score of 1160 or higher will have particularly competitive chances at Cal State Monterey Bay. Requirements Cal State Monterey Bay does not require the SAT writing section. Note that CSUMB will consider your highest score from each individual section across all SAT test dates. SAT Subject test scores are not required, but if the score meets a benchmark, it may be used to fulfill certain core course requirements. ACT Scores and Requirements Cal State Monterey Bay requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, 40% of admitted students submitted ACT scores. ACT Range (Admitted Students) Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile English 16 23 Math 17 23 Composite 17 23 This admissions data tells us that most of Cal State Monterey Bays admitted students fall within the  bottom 33% nationally  on the ACT. The middle 50% of students admitted to CSUMB received a composite ACT score between 17 and 23, while 25% scored above 23 and 25% scored below 17. Requirements Cal State Monterey Bay does not require the ACT writing section. Unlike many universities, CSUMB superscores ACT results; your highest subscores from multiple ACT sittings will be considered. GPA In 2018, the average high school GPA for incoming Cal State Monterey Bay freshmen was 3.39. This data suggests that most successful applicants to CSUMB have primarily B grades. Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph Cal State Monterey Bay Applicants Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph. Data courtesy of Cappex. The admissions data in the graph is self-reported by applicants to Cal State Monterey Bay. GPAs are unweighted. Find out how you compare to accepted students, see the real-time graph, and calculate your chances of getting in with a free Cappex account. Admissions Chances Cal State Monterey Bay, which accepts just over half of applicants, has a selective admissions process. Unlike the  University of California System, the  California State University  admission process is not  holistic. Except for EOP (Educational Opportunity Program) students, applicants do  not  need to submit letters of recommendation or an application essay, and extracurricular involvement is not part of the standard application. Instead, admissions are  based primarily on an  eligibility index  that combines GPA and test scores. Minimum high school course requirements (A-G college preparatory requirements) include four years of English; three years of math; two years of history and social science; two years of laboratory science; two years of a foreign language other than English; one year of visual or performing arts; and one year of a college preparatory elective. The reasons why an applicant with adequate scores and grades would be rejected tends to come down to factors such as insufficient college preparatory classes, high school classes that werent challenging, or an incomplete application. Be aware that California State University, Monterey Bay is designated as  impacted  because it receives more applications than can be accommodated. Impacted CSUSM majors include: Biology, Business Administration, Computer Science, Kinesiology, Marine Science, Psychology, and Undeclared. Each of the impacted programs have additional requirements for eligibility. In the graph above, accepted students are represented by the blue and green dots. As you can see, the majority of admitted students had a high school average of B or better, SAT scores (ERWM) of 950 or higher, and ACT scores of 18 or higher. If You Like CSUMB, You May Also Like These Schools Occidental CollegeCalifornia State University, ChicoCalifornia State University, San BernardinoCalifornia State University, Los AngelesCalifornia State University San MarcosUniversity of California, Santa Cruz All admissions data has been sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics and California State University, Monterey Bay Undergraduate Admissions Office.

Germanic Culture Preserved in Beowulf - 1284 Words

Germanic Culture Preserved in Beowulf Many differences can be found between early Germanic culture and our culture today. Beowulf,the story of the triumphs of a great warrior over near impossible feats, takes place in Scandanavia during the 450s. In this tale, the war obsessed men exhibit values important to the early Germanic culture. Recording such an epic tale not only immortalizes the hero of the poem, but in turn also makes certain that these Scandanavian ways of life will never be forgotten. Their morals, while on the surface seem wrong compared to those found in society today, make sense to them because of the unwritten rules they have set up. The differences in these cultures make it difficult for people today to find interest†¦show more content†¦Throughout the story, the text brings out the value of revenge through Grendel s mother avenging her son, the tale of Herebeald and Haetheyn told by Beowulf, and the effects that death has on other characters. Revenge can be a way people in this time period to honor the memory of a fallen kinsman. With no legal system like that of which can be found in American society today, the only way they see fit to find justice for the crime of murder comes from murdering those responsible. This cycle, while seemingly never ending, can be stopped by paying a weregild, or an amount of money giving to absolve one of a crime they have committed. This speaks volumes of the importance of vengeance over the death of a kin, considering the great value money has to this culture. One example of this, the death of a man in the Geats party during the fight with Grendel. Beowulf makes it clear that he expects a payment from Hrothgar, which shows that the price put on the life of a man comes before keeping his memory alive once he passes. While weregild can be used to deal with death, the other would be to kill the responsible party. This task usually falls on the kin of the deceased, just as Grendel s mother avenges the death of her son after his death at the hands of Beowulf. There are instances where these two options do not apply. Beowulf tells the tale of brothers HerebealdShow MoreRelatedAnglo-Saxon Heroic Poetry5673 Words   |  23 PagesOld English poetry is divided into two types: the Heroic, the sources of which are pre-Christian Germanic myth, history and custom; and the Christian. Heroic, or Epic Poetry belongs to one of these two types and refers to long narrative poems celebrating the great deeds of one or more legendary heroes, in a grand, ceremonious style. In its strict use by literary critics, the terms Heroic Poetry or Epic are applied to a work that meets the following criteria: such a poem must be related in anRead MoreHistory Of Ancient Poetry Ghosh ( 1 )995 Words   |  4 Pageswas characterized by foreign invasions and internal struggles. This resulted within the admixture of many races, tongues and cultures. Once the Romans departed from British Isles in 407 AD fighting continuing between the Picts and therefore the Scots who had lost their common enemy. The fifth century additionally saw conquests and therefore the gradual occupation by Germanic tribes - Angles, Jutes and Saxons - who had rapt north to Scandinavia and from there to Great Britain aside from creating conquestsRead More The Anglo-Saxon poems, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, and The Wife’s Lament3469 Words   |  14 Pagesculture’s societal structure, and religious struggle of the Old English time period: making the transition from paganism to Christianity. In order to understand how these poems mirror the Anglo-Saxons’ lives, one must know a little history about the culture. In the fifth century, the inhabitants of the island of Britain hired German mercenaries to defend them against their warring neighbors, the Picts and the Scots. 2 After having defeated the enemies, the pagan Angles, or Saxons, revolted against theirRead MoreQuestion and Correct Answer7042 Words   |  29 PagesWorld culture quiz ï‚ · Question 1 2 out of 2 points | | | Why did the arts develop in Mesopotamia?Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: |   Ã‚   As celebrations of the priest-kings power | Correct Answer: |   Ã‚   As celebrations of the priest-kings power | | | | | ï‚ · Question 2 2 out of 2 points | | | What did lost-wax casting enable the Mesopotamian sculptors to create?Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: |   Ã‚   Larger and more lightweight bronze pieces | Correct Answer: |   Ã‚   Larger

Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner Essay - 733 Words

The twentieth century was a turning point in the way we view behavior. Sigmund Freud shook the medical world when he claimed that unconscious forces dictate our behavior and childhood experiences play a large role in personality formation. Freud’s psychoanalytic theory placed the subject of behavior into the forefront of medical study. Freud’s theory brought much criticism and controversy but most importantly; it brought interest to the subject of behavior and personality. This newfound interest caused many young doctors to begin studying how behavior is created. Many new theories would follow Freud’s and forever change the way science views behavior. Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner are three of the men that contributed in†¦show more content†¦Eventually, the irrational fear may be deconditioned. B.F. Skinner agreed with Pavlov but he believed there was more than one way that conditioning takes place. Skinner believed that learning could take place as a result of stimuli that took place after the action. Skinner stated that a simple system of rewards and consequences governed much of human behavior. When a person is rewarded for an action they are more likely to repeat that action. When an action is followed by unfavorable consequences it is more unlikely the action will be repeated. Skinner called this operant conditioning. His principle has three components reinforcement, extinction, and punishment. Skinner recognized two types of reinforcement, negative and positive (reward). An example of positive reinforcement would be a parent giving their child a dollar for every A they received on their report card. Negative reinforcement would be taking away your sons driving privileges because he failed his math exam. Positive reinforcement strengthens the chance behavior will be re peated while negative strengthens the chance negative behavior will cease. Extinction is a weakening of the response to the conditioning. Punishment refers to any response that leads to a negative outcome. When an outcome continues to be negative the behavior will begin to cease. Skinner’s theories continue to be popular today. John Watson was the founder of theShow MoreRelatedIvan Pavlov, John Watson, And B. F. Skinner1272 Words   |  6 PagesLearning Theories are one of the largest branches of modern psychology, branching mainly from the theory presented by Ivan Pavlov in the early twentieth century. Learning, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is described as the modification of a behavioral tendency by experience. In psychology terms, learning is often known as a lasting change in behavior as a result of experience. The psychology behind learning became more and more of a focus in the early 1900’s as behaviorism (the theoryRead MoreEssay Operant Conditioning1743 Words   |  7 PagesIvan Pavlov Classical conditioning is a method used in behavioral studies. It is known as classical because it is the first study of laws of learning/conditioning, It is a learned reaction that you do when evoked by a stimulus. Ivan Pavlov was the scientist who discovered classical conditioning. Ivan Pavlov was born in Russia. He lived from 1849 - 1936 . Pavlov’s field of study was physiology and natural science. One of Pavlov’s discoveries was the conditioning of dogs. WhileRead MoreTheories About Human Behaviour And Its Effects On Human Behavior999 Words   |  4 Pagesscientific study of objectively observable behaviour† (pg 19). Behaviours that can be observed include covert behaviours, like thoughts and emotions, and behaviourism can be used to analyse these and then modify them. In the 20th century Pavlov, Thorndike, Watson and Skinner all played very important roles in the emergence of Behaviourism and helped tear away from other psychology fields. Theories about human behaviour were concluded by experiments on animals and how they interacted with their environmentRead MoreSimilarities Between Pavlov, John B. Skinner And Classical Conditioning1316 Words   |  6 Pagesbehavioral psychologists were Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Albert Bandura. These men played a huge part in exploring the process of learning. While Watson and Pavlov focused on classical conditioning, Skinner worked with operant condition, and Bandura experimented with observational learning. All in all, these psychologist discovered many things about the process of learning, many of which I can apply to my own life experiences. Ivan Pavlov spent most of his time studying classicalRead MoreThe And Social Learning Theory1246 Words   |  5 Pagesweaknesses of the theories of Psychologists B F Skinner and Stanley Milgram and also critically discuss the limitations of their theories. Then finally weigh up how Skinner has impacted the understanding of behaviour. How Behaviourism and Social Learning Theory contribute to the understanding of learning Behaviourism is the theory that human beings and animals can be conditioned to act a certain way. This started with the observations from Pavlov in 1902, in which he conducted and experiment withRead MoreBehaviorism or Black Box Psychology Essay1181 Words   |  5 Pageshave a stronger scientific footing (Lilienfeld, Lynn, Namy, Woolf). The major behaviorists are Watson and Skinner. Pavlov also had a major impact on this particular branch of psychology. I will discuss a little about each of their major experiments and the contributions they made to the field of psychology; as well as how they can be applied to things in everyday life. A physiologist known as Ivan Pavlov had a big impact on the field of psychology particularly, the behaviorist movement, he is knownRead MoreBehaviorism As A Psychological Theory Of Human Development942 Words   |  4 Pages1950 and is based on a number of underlying assumptions regarding methodology and behavioral analysis. (McLeod, 2007 ) Behaviorism became one of the main focuses in psychology. Behaviorism was first studied and developed by John B Watson in 1912. John B. Watson was an American Psychologist who’s theory of behaviorism lead him down a path where he introduced the psychological school of behaviorism and there is where he established the belief that behavior can be taught in a certain way and eventuallyRead MoreBehaviorism : Behaviorism And Behaviorism847 Words   |  4 PagesPsychology, behaviorism is a theory of learning that is based upon the idea that all behaviors are obtained from outside observations and not in thoughts or feelings. In the twentieth century, three significant behaviorists John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner determined that behaviorism is the study of observable behavior, as opposed to internal events such as emotions and cogitation (Moore). Although the three behaviorists encounter their theories of behaviorism differently, their ideasRead MoreThe Theory Of Classical Conditioning Theory Essay712 Words   |  3 Pagesl ook at evaluating the theories of Ivan Pavlov, John B Watson, Edward Thorndike, BF Skinner, John Bowlby (1958), and Mary Anisworth (1979) Two important learning theories of behaviorist perspective are classical and operant conditioning and are two important concepts to psychology. The processes are different but they both result in learning. Classical conditioning theory involves learning a new behaviour through the process of association. Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) discovered the concept of classicalRead MoreBehaviorism Views On Human Behavior1030 Words   |  5 Pagesthemanagement of more severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia. Early Theorists: Pavlov (1849-1936) Ivan P. Pavlov is Russia s most famous scientist. He first won greatdistinction for his research on the physiology of th digestive system. Pavlovencountered a methodological problem that was ultimately to prove moreimportant and more interesting than his physiological research. He haddiscovered conditioning. For Pavlov, all behavior was reflexive. But how do such behaviors differfrom the behavior

An Analysis of Henry Gates Jr. and “the Signifying Monkey”

Midterm Essay An Analysis of Henry Gates Jr. and â€Å"The Signifying Monkey† It is certain that when you are exposed to an author’s work you want to categorize that author into a certain group. Perhaps this practice of categorizing a composer can help the reader understand the piece of literature. Henry Gates has helped understand and criticize many African American Literature authors that are exposed through the canon in secondary English Education. As a teacher, it is essential to introduce Postcolonialism into the classroom as well as postcolonialist critics such as Henry Gates Jr. Furthermore, as I teach my African American literature class I have found myself searching for supplemental material to suppose the authors that I introduce†¦show more content†¦It is sad and unjust to think that as Americans we are introduced to many Greek mythologies through our formal education then African American mythology; when will we re write the curriculum and change this ill to society? The first step to this would be having teachers introduce Gates wo rk into a secondary classroom. Gates examines how, in oral culture, the trickster figure of the monkey outsmarts the stronger lion through signifying: using language to play tricks. In its general outlines, the monkey’s story goes like this. Although the lion claims to be king of the jungle, everyone knows who the real king is: it is the elephant. The monkey, fed up with the lion’s roaring, decides to do something about it. He insults the lion publicly and at length and when the lion grows angry, the monkey shrugs that he is merely repeating what the elephant has been saying. Furious, the lion heads out to challenge the elephant, who impassively trounces him. The monkey either gets away with his deception or does not (there are differing versions), but in any event he is a success at signifying. Of course Gates includes several versions of the signifying monkey poem, many containing almost shocking renditions all were contained the principle of a play on words or even being the bearer of language. If I were to introduce Gates concepts into my inner-city classroom I would use the example of battle rapping to address many of the concepts that GatesShow MoreRelatedEssay on Race and Class in Alice Walkers Color Purple1622 Words   |  7 PagesWalkers domestic narrative undertakes a sustained analysis of race through the careful development of family relationships - or kinship - as an extended textual trope for race relations. Any attempt to oppose political and personal discourses in the novel collapses when one recognizes that the narrative adopts the discourse of family relations both to establish a domestic ideal for racial integration and to problematize that ideal through the analysis of specific integrated family groupings in AfricaRead MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 Pageseffort; and skilled workers could produce only a few cars in a day. Although these cars were of high quality, they were too expensive. Managers of early car companies needed better techniques to increase efï ¬ ciency, reduce costs, and sell more cars. Henry Ford revolutionized the car industry. In 1913, Ford opened the Highland Park car plant in Detroit to produce the Model T Ford, and his team of manufacturing managers pioneered the development of mass- production manufacturing, a system that made

The Future of Marriage in America Free Essays

string(65) " children of the lower classes often do not have this advantage\." http://marriage. rutgers. edu/Publications/SOOU/TEXTSOOU2007. We will write a custom essay sample on The Future of Marriage in America or any similar topic only for you Order Now htm The State of Our Unions The Social Health of Marriage in America 2007 Essay: The Future of Marriage in America David Popenoe  © Copyright 2007 Introduction In this year’s essay, David Popenoe argues that long-term trends point to the gradual weakening of marriage as the primary social institution of family life. More Americans today are living together, marrying at older ages or not at all, and rearing children in cohabiting or solo parent households. Overall, the U. S. trends are following the far-advanced trends toward nonmarriage in Northwestern European nations, albeit at a slower and more uneven pace. Popenoe attributes the weakening of marriage to a broad cultural shift away from religion and social traditionalism and toward faith in personal independence and tolerance for diverse life styles – otherwise known as â€Å"secular individualism. † This cultural shift is a central feature of modern societies and therefore unlikely to be reversed. Compared to Europeans, moreover, Americans are more libertarian and thus may be more susceptible to harshly negative consequences of secular individualism on family life. As Popenoe concludes, it will probably require a cultural awakening, perhaps prompted by rational self-interest, to avoid such an outcome. We will have to adopt the view that personal happiness depends on high-trust and lasting relationships and that such relationships require constraints on short-term adult interests in order to foster long-term commitments to children, and thus to the future. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead THE FUTURE OF MARRIAGE IN AMERICA David Popenoe Almost a decade ago, in our first annual State of Our Unions Report in 1999, the lead essay was â€Å"What’s Happening to Marriage. † The picture we painted was hopeful, if not especially optimistic. Marriage, we reported, â€Å"is weakening but it is too soon to write its obituary. † In this, our ninth annual report to the nation, I want to summarize what has been happening to marriage in recent years and peer into the future. One question in particular is compelling: Is marriage in America headed in the direction of the European nations, where it is an even weaker social institution than in the United States? Or are we, as in other areas of our national life—such as our higher level of religious participation and belief—the great exception to the seemingly entrenched trends of the developed, Western societies? This raises, in turn, another intriguing question: Is America still a single nation in family terms, or are we becoming more divided by region and class? Marriage and Family Trends of the Past Decade There can be no doubt that the institution of marriage has continued to weaken in recent years. Whereas marriage was once the dominant and single acceptable form of living arrangement for couples and children, it is no longer. Today, there is more â€Å"family diversity:† Fewer adults are married, more are divorced or remaining single, and more are living together outside of marriage or living alone. [The most recent data are available in the second half of this report. Today, more children are born out-of-wedlock (now almost four out of ten), and more are living in stepfamilies, with cohabiting but unmarried adults, or with a single parent. This means that more children each year are not living in families that include their own married, biological parents, which by all available empirical evidence is the gold standard for insuring optimal outcomes in a child’s development. In the late 1990s quite a bit was written about a â€Å"marriage and family turnaround,† or a reversal of the many family weakening trends. Most negative family trends have slowed appreciably in recent years; they have not continued in the dramatically swift trajectory upward that prevailed in the 1970s and 1980s. Much of this may be due simply to the slowing of social trends as they â€Å"mature. † The only major family trend that has actually reversed direction is divorce. After rising steeply, beginning around 1965, the divorce rate has dropped gradually since the early 1980s, apparently mainly the result of adults becoming better educated and marrying at a later age. Other possible reasons for the decreasing divorce rate are the rise of non-marital cohabitation and a decline in second and subsequent marriages. Divorcees, for example, have become more likely to cohabit rather than remarry, thus avoiding remarriages that have always had a disproportionately high risk of divorce. The Marriage Gap One surprising development of recent years is the growth of a marriage and divorce â€Å"gap† between differently educated segments of the population. People who have completed college (around a quarter of the population) tend to have significantly higher marriage and lower divorce rates compared to those with less education. Among those married in the early 1990s, for example, only 16. 5 percent of college educated women were divorced within ten years, compared to 46 percent for high school dropouts. Indeed, most of the recent divorce rate decline has been among the college educated; for those with less than a high school education, the divorce rate actually has been rising. 1) The weakening of marriage and the resultant growth of family diversity thus is found much more prominently among those with less education and associated lower incomes. The underlying reason for this may be as simple as the fact that the personality and social characteristics enabling one to complete college are similar to those that foster today’s long-term marriages. Or, that delayed entry into the adult world of work and childbearing, and the incr ease in income and knowledge that college typically fosters, better allows mature values and financial security to undergird choice of partner and family life. Whatever the reasons, this marriage and divorce gap has been a major contributor to the growing economic inequality in America. Some expect the marriage gap to grow larger in the future because children tend to follow the family behavior of their parents. Children of the educated and financially comfortable are better socialized to marry successfully and to contain childbearing within marriage, whereas children of the lower classes often do not have this advantage. You read "The Future of Marriage in America" in category "Papers" But it is doubtful that this gap will have much effect on the over-all drift of marriage in America. The increase in the college-educated portion of the population has been slowing appreciably. And the fertility of college-educated women has dropped. Twenty-four percent of college-educated women aged 40-44 were childless in 2004, compared to only 15 percent of women that age who didn’t finish high school. (2) On a national scale, the continuation of this fertility discrepancy could seriously counteract any beneficial family effects of higher education. The European Direction No matter how weak it has become, however, compared to other modern nations marriage remains at the center of American life. About 85 percent of Americans are expected to marry sometime in their lives, compared to less than 70 percent in a number of European nations. Only ten percent of Americans in an international survey agreed that â€Å"marriage is an out-dated institution,† compared to 26 percent in the UK and 36 percent in France. (3) Only about ten percent of American couples are cohabiting outside of marriage, compared to almost one third in Sweden. And our commercial wedding industry certainly has become huge. Yet an overriding question is whether marriage and family trends in every modern society are headed in a common direction. In other words, is there a set of family trends endemic to modern (urban, industrial, democratic, and still mostly Western) societies that supercedes economic, cultural, and even religious differences among regions and nations? If so, the current family system in the United States is not an exception but merely a laggard; we will gradually be swept up in the tide. Up to now, the pacesetters in most contemporary marriage and family trends—all moving in the direction of a non-marriage culture—have been the nations of Northwestern Europe, especially the Nordic countries. They have the latest age at first marriage, the lowest marriage and highest non-marital cohabitation rates, and the largest number of out-of-wedlock births. The nations in Southern Europe such as Spain, Italy and Greece, with less cohabitation and fewer out-of-wedlock births, tend to look more like the United States. Family traditionalism remains stronger in these southern nations, and young people live longer in their childhood homes, often until they marry, rather than living independently or in cohabiting unions. The United Kingdom and the Anglo-settler nations, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, typically stand somewhere in between the two extremes. But with respect to each of the dominant family trends of recent decades the other modern nations have been moving, albeit at varying speeds and not without some temporary lapses, in the Northwest European direction. The percentage of people getting married has been going down, the number of people cohabiting outside of marriage has been increasing, and the out-of-wedlock birth percentage has been skyrocketing. Between the early to mid 1990s and the early 2000s, for example, the marriage rate dropped twelve percent in Italy, 14 percent in Spain, 22 percent in Canada, 28 percent in New Zealand and 24 percent in the United States. At the same time, the non-marital cohabitation percentage (of all couples) climbed 23 percent in Italy and Australia, 53 percent in the United Kingdom, and 49 percent in the United States. The nonmarital birth rate jumped 24 percent in the United States, 48 percent in the United Kingdom, 96 percent in Italy, and a whopping 144 percent in Spain. 4) In one major respect the United States has long been the pacesetter and not the laggard. For generations, we have had the highest divorce rate. Yet even this is now changing. The U. S. rate has been dropping for several decades, while the divorce rate in many European nations has stayed the same or been climbing. The number of divorces per one thousand married women in the United Kingdom in 2002 was 14. 4, not too far from the United States rate of 18. 4. In the past, the incidence of family breakup was closely aligned with the incidence of divorce, but this is no longer the case. Because more people now cohabit in place of marrying, when a cohabiting couple breaks up it is not registered as a divorce would be. Unfortunately, we have no standard reporting system for the breakup of cohabiting couples, but all empirical studies show that cohabiting couples breakup at a much higher rate than married couples. While only ten percent of American couples cohabit, some 20 percent of British couples do. So if we are considering total family breakup, it is likely the case that Britain plus a number of other European nations now surpass us. There is one other important respect in which America has been in the vanguard of family trends—we have the highest percentage of mother-only families. Many European nations have a much higher percentage of out-of-wedlock births than we do, but the great majority of these births are to unmarried but cohabiting couples. In America, much more often, children are born to a lone mother with the father not in residence and often out of the child’s life. Nearly half of all extramarital births in America were of this nature in 2001, according to the latest available data. 5) One reason is our relatively high percentage of births to teenagers, 80 percent of which are non-marital and more than half of those to lone mothers; another is that 70 percent of all unwed births to African Americans are to lone mothers. However, the gap in mother-only families between the United States and other nations of the West is also in the process of diminishing. Being born to a lone mother is onl y one route to living in a mother-only family. Another route is through the break-up of parents after the child is born, which is far more common among parents who cohabit compared to those who marry. With parental break-up rates in other nations climbing rapidly, thanks largely to increased non-marital cohabitation, many of these nations are catching up with us in the alarming statistic of mother-only families. Even by the early 1990s, according to the calculations of several scholars, New Zealand had caught up with the United States with nearly 50 percent of children expected to experience single parenting by age 15, and the figure for Canada and five European countries exceeded 33 percent. (6) These percentages would probably be much higher if they were recalculated today using more recent data. So if we are moving in the direction of the more negative family trends of other modern nations, and they are moving in the direction of our negative trends, where does this leave us? Aren’t we all in a common basket, destined to witness an institution of marriage that is ever weakening? Before considering this, let us first have a look at the possibility that America is becoming increasingly bifurcated into two distinct cultures. Could it be that only one part of America is moving in a European family direction? The American Red-Blue Divide The recent family trends in the Western nations have been largely generated by a distinctive set of cultural values that scholars have come to label â€Å"secular individualism. † It features the gradual abandonment of religious attendance and beliefs, a strong leaning toward â€Å"expressive† values that are preoccupied with personal autonomy and self-fulfillment, and a political emphasis on egalitarianism and the tolerance of diverse lifestyles. An established empirical generalization is that the greater the dominance of secular individualism in a culture, the more fragmented the families. The fundamental reason is that the traditional nuclear family is a somewhat inegalitarian group (not only between husbands and wives but also parents and children) that requires the suppression of some individuality and also has been strongly supported by, and governed by the rules of, orthodox religions. As a seeming impediment to personal autonomy and social equality, therefore, the traditional family is an especially attractive unit for attacks from a secular individualistic perspective. On average, America has been moving in the direction of secular individualism, as can be seen in the general drift of our family trends. But the â€Å"on average† covers up some very substantial variations, some of which account for why, looked at internationally, we are a nation with relatively conservative family values. A recent National Cultural Values Survey (7) found that American adults usefully can be split into three groups, based on the degree to which they have embraced secular individualism, ranging from the Orthodox to the Progressives, with Independents in the middle. The survey found 31 percent of the population in the religiously Orthodox category, 17 percent in the secular Progressive category, and 46 percent as Independents. The Orthodox category is far larger than one finds in Western Europe and the other Anglo nations, and the Progressive category (i. e. , secular individualist) is considerably smaller, and therein lies the major basis for American family exceptionalism. One thing that makes these categories so prominent in American culture is that they are strongly expressed geographically. As analyzed by demographers at the University of Michigan, the two extremes are reflected in the so-called Red (Republican) and Blue (Democratic) state distinction frequently made in recent national political analysis. 8) The more Progressive Blue states are principally those of the Northeast, the Upper Midwest, and the West Coast, while the more Orthodox Red states are found in the South, the lower Midwest, and the Mountain region of the West. Reflecting their different ideologies, the Blue states tend to have lower marriage and higher cohabitation rates, along with lower fertility, while the Red states are more t raditional in their family structure. [See box in the second half of this report. The ideology and family behavior found in the Blue states resembles that of the other Western nations, although not quite as far down the path of Progressivism. If one were referring only to this part of America, one would not be talking about American exceptionalism. The large Orthodox population of the Red states, however, does give the United States a unique configuration in the modern world. If it were not for this population, we would not be having a â€Å"culture war† and we probably would not even be having a national conversation about the weakening of marriage. There is no such conversation about marriage in the Northwestern European nations, despite the fact that the institution of marriage is considerably weaker there than it is here. It is clear that the family structure of America is exceptional in some respects. The question is, are we so exceptional that we can resist the modern trend of marriage and family decline? So far the answer is no—we have been headed down the same path as every other modern, Western society toward ever-increasing secular individualism with its associated family structures. If this trend continues, the family structure of the Red states will come to look more and more like today’s Blue states, and the Blue states will look ever more like Europe. The Prospect for Cultural Change To reverse this trend of marriage and family decline would take a cultural transformation of some kind, and it is interesting to consider and evaluate what this might look like, and what could bring it about. One potential source of change would be a significant expansion in influence and authority of today’s orthodox, anti-individualist religions. Much has been written in recent years about the weakening of secularization, pointing out that modernization no longer necessarily means the demise of religion. The evidence for this comes from the newly modernizing countries of the world, however, where orthodox religions have actually been gaining, rather than losing, strength. There is no evidence that anything like this has been happening to date in the Western European and Anglo nations. Quite the opposite; with each passing year these nations—including the United States—are more secular than ever before. The National Cultural Values Survey noted above found that regular churchgoing has dipped below 50 percent and only 36 percent believe â€Å"people should live by God’s principles,† concluding that â€Å"America no longer enjoys cultural consensus on God, religion, and what constitutes right and wrong. â€Å"(9) A powerful indicator of future trends are the beliefs and attitudes of today’s young people, which are unmistakably more secular and individualist than those of their elders. A recent study concluded that emerging adults (ages 18-24) in America, compared to their earlier counterparts and their older contemporaries, are more disaffected and disconnected from society, more cynical or negative about people, and have moved in a liberal direction. (10) A Pew Foundation national survey found that 20 percent of today’s young people (18-24) say they have no religious affiliation or are atheist or agnostic, nearly double the percentage of the non-religious found in that age group less than 20 years ago. In the same time period the percentage of young people who did not agree that they had â€Å"old fashioned values about family and marriage† jumped from 17 percent to 31 percent. (11) A study in Britain, starkly pointing up the entrenched nature of this generational shift, found that a child with two religious parents has only a 50 percent chance of being religious, while a child with one religious parent has 25 percent chance of being religious. 12) Another cultural transformation that could move the family in a more traditional direction is widespread immigration. In combination with low birthrates, massive immigration is capable of changing the culture, social experiences, and self-identity of a population—including the ideologies of secularism and individualism. This possibility is beginning to be discussed in Europe, where birthrates in many nations remain well below replacement level and immigration, mostly from orthodox Muslim countries with high birthrates, is h igh and growing. The percentage of foreign born in many Western European nations is now similar to that in America, around twelve percent, but the birthrates of these groups are typically far higher than the indigenous populations. Projections are that the percentage of people of â€Å"foreign origin† may reach as high as one third in some European nations by 2050, and far higher than that in the major cities. (13) What is not known is how these new immigrants ultimately will react to secular individualism and the other cultural beliefs and practices of modern, Western democracies. As many have noted, because of long-standing antipathies between peoples of the Muslim faith and those of Christianity, often violent and going back well more than a millennium, it does seem possible that Europe faces the prospect of a major cultural transformation sometime in the future through immigrants who, rather than assimilate, will pull the culture in a new direction. The immigration situation in the United States, however, is different, and it does not seem as likely that in the foreseeable future immigrant groups will be able to seriously shift our culture in a more traditional direction. The most likely candidate for cultural change, of course, is the growing Hispanic population. The percentage of Hispanics is projected to reach 25 percent of the total population by 2050, when non-Hispanic Whites will make up only a slim majority. (14) But unlike Europe we are already a nation made up of many different immigrant groups; many Hispanics have been here for years, and they share a common religious heritage in Christianity. Thus Hispanics don’t pose the same threat of not assimilating to Western culture as do the Muslims. Indeed, to date, Hispanics seem to have assimilated into the American culture of secular individualism more than the reverse. For example, the unwed birth percentage among Hispanics has jumped from 19 percent in 1980 to 48 percent in 2005 and stands well above the percentage for the non-Hispanic White population (25 percent). Hispanics have the same divorce rate as non-Hispanic Whites, and in recent years their rate of non-marital cohabitation has grown faster than that of any other immigrant group. These trends contradict earlier expectations that Hispanics might bring this nation a new wave of family traditionalism. The prediction of the continued growth of secular individualism within modern cultures rests on some powerful facts. So far in the Western experience, at least, the dominant sociological factors associated with secular individualism are that the higher the educational and income levels of a population, and the more urbanized it is, the greater the degree of secular individualism. Is it likely that any time in the near future educational, income, and urbanization levels in America will drop? They have been increasing inexorably for three centuries, so a turnaround would most likely occur only in the event of some catastrophe, either natural or man-made. Absent such a catastrophe (which certainly can not be ruled out in today’s world), the most likely future scenario is that secular individualism will increasingly dominate the cultures of the West. The best prospects for cultural change, therefore, rest on the possibility that, at some time in the future, new generations of secular individualists themselves will undergo a change of heart. One way this might occur is through the growth of new, non-orthodox religious ideologies that remained compatible with secular individualism but take it in new directions. Unfortunately, the new religious strains that have emerged in recent decades, so-called New Age religions, have been profoundly individualistic. None has shown any interest in preserving marriage and family solidarity. Indeed, they seem part and parcel of the secular individualist movement, albeit with a more â€Å"spiritual† bent. The same seems to hold true for today’s rapidly growing â€Å"green† movement, which itself shows signs of becoming a new quasi-religion in which the environment has replaced God as a focus of almost divine adoration. So far there is little evidence that â€Å"pro-green† translates into â€Å"pro-marriage† or â€Å"pro-family,† although it is conceivable that somehow the conservation of nature could become translated into the conservation of the family. Any widely accepted â€Å"new morality† that might change family behavior would probably have to be compatible with secular individualism’s motivating force—rational self-interest. The self-interest of today’s young people still includes the desire to have strong intimate relationships and to want to do best by their children. And there is every reason to believe that these interests will continue into the future because they are, in fact, an intrinsic part of being human. The task that lies ahead, then, is to help young people to see the importance of marriage and strong families as the best way to achieve these interests; to help them realize that a better and more meaningful way of life, both for themselves and for their children, involves a commitment to long-term marriage. What Can be Done? As a first step, the institution of marriage needs to be promoted by all levels of society, particularly the families, the schools, the churches, the non-profit sector, and the government. The great majority of American high school seniors still want to get married, with 82 percent of girls and 70 percent of boys recently saying that â€Å"having a good marriage and family life† is â€Å"extremely important† to them. These percentages, in fact, represent a slight increase from the late 1970s. 15) But as high schoolers reach young adulthood, when the attraction of cohabitation and careers gains strong currency, making the actual commitment to marriage is not easy. Young people need, therefore, to be made continually aware of the many benefits married life brings, both for themselves and for their children. The empirical evidence is now strong and persuasive that a good marriage enhances personal happiness, economic success, health and longevity. This ev idence should become a regular part of our educational programs and our public discourse. Yet successful marriage promotion requires more than empirical evidence. Marriage has fallen by the wayside, in part, because it receives less and less social recognition and approval. Any norm of behavior requires for its maintenance the continuing support of the community, including active social pressures to uphold it. When social approval and pressures wither, the norm weakens. Today’s young people have been taught through the schools and in their communities a strong message of tolerance for â€Å"alternative lifestyles. † â€Å"Thou shalt not make moral judgments about other people’s family behavior† seems to have become a dominant message in our times. The reason for this is completely understandable; children and young people come from ever more diverse family situations which are not of their own doing, and they should be fully accepted and not be penalized. The problem is that this moral message is carried on into adult life, where it is applied not to children and young people but to adults who do have choices about how they shape their lives. In an effort not to judge much less stigmatize any adult life style, we have all too often become virtually silent about the value and importance of marriage. This silence is extremely damaging to the promotion of a pro-marriage culture. The widespread promotion of marriage is directed at only half of the problem, however. Getting people to marry is one thing, helping them to stay married is something else entirely. Helping people to stay married is the main focus of an important set of programs known as marriage education. Typically conducted in group settings rather than counseling situations, marriage education programs focus on developing the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed for making a wise marital choice and having a successful marriage. Although marriage education has been around for many decades, it recently has been thrust into the limelight thanks to widespread publicity and government financial assistance. The importance of marriage education is magnified by the fact that the marital relationship today is so different from what it was in the past. Marriage is now based almost entirely on close friendship and romantic love, mostly stripped of the economic dependencies, legal and religious restrictions, and extended family pressures that have held marriages together for most of human history. Until fairly recent times marriages had little to do with romantic love, sexual passion, or even close friendship; they were functional partnerships in the intense struggle of life. Today, a successful marriage rests almost entirely on how well one gets along, intimately and for the long term, with someone of the opposite sex. The â€Å"relationship knowledge† this requires has never been part of formal education, but there is no reason to believe that it can not effectively be taught to married couples and those about to be married, as well as to younger people as part of the high school curriculum. Indeed, the initial empirical evaluations of marriage education programs conclude that they are both well-received and have generally positive outcomes. Marriage promotion and marriage education are essential steps, but in order fully to rebuild the institution of marriage there would probably have to be a cultural shift of a more fundamental nature. Modern cultures would need to pull back from the now dominant thrust of secular individualism—the excessive pursuit of personal autonomy, immediate gratification, and short-term personal gain—and give greater emphasis to issues of community and social solidarity. This could come about through a growing realization, based on rational self-interest, that our personal happiness and sense of well-being over the long course of life are less affected by the amount of independence, choice, bodily pleasure and wealth we are able to obtain than by the number of stable, long-term and meaningful relationships we have with others. (16) And through a greater recognition of the fact that short-term adult interests can be in conflict with the long-term health and wellbeing of children, and that our children’s welfare has everything to do with the future of our nation. Conclusion America is still the most marrying of Western nations, but nevertheless we are caught up in the prevailing trends of modernity that lead toward an ever-weakening institution of marriage. Marriage rates have been dropping and cohabitation and out-of-wedlock birth rates have been rising, thanks in large part to the growing influence of secular individualism in all modern cultures. The negative effects of this are felt most profoundly by our children, who are growing up in family situations that are less and less optimum from a child-development perspective. As we move in the direction of the weaker family structures of Europe it is important to remember that we lack many of the welfare â€Å"safety-nets† found there, and therefore the negative effects of marital decline on children are likely to be heightened in this country. We are not a unified nation in family terms. We have a marriage gap, whereby the college-educated have a stronger marriage culture than the less well-educated. And we have a Red state/Blue state divide, whereby the nation is geographically split up into areas of family traditionalism and non-traditionalism. Yet these divisions remain peripheral to the overall waning of marriage in America. The rebuilding of a stronger marriage culture is possible. In addition to the heavy promotion of marriage built around the self-interest of today’s young people, it will probably require a cultural shift of some magnitude, one in which stable, predictable, and long-term relationships with others come to be viewed as the best foundation for adult personalities, childrearing, and family life. Footnotes 1. Steven P. Martin, â€Å"Trends in Marital Dissolution by Women’s Education in the United States,† Demographic Research 15-20 (December 2006), 537-560. 2. Jane Lawler Dye, â€Å"Fertility of American Women: June 2004. † Current Population Report, P20-555, Washington, DC: US Census Bureau (2005),Table 7. 3. Reported in Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, â€Å"Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces,† unpublished manuscript, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (2007). 4. Unless otherwise indicated, all calculations are by the National Marriage Project from published international data sources. . Lisa Mincieli and Kristin Moore, â€Å"The Relationship Context of Births Outside of Marriage: The Rise of Cohabitation,† Child Trends Research Brief 2007-13 (May 2007). 6. Patrick Heuveline, J. M. Timberlake, and F. F. Furstenberg, Jr. , â€Å"Shifting Childrearing to Single Mothers: Results from 17 Western Countries,† Population and Devel opment Review 29-1 (March 2003), 47-71. 7. Culture and Media Institute, Alexandria, Virginia (2007). 8. Ron J. Lesthaeghe and Lisa Neidert, â€Å"The Second Demographic Transition in the U. S. : Exception or Textbook Example,† Population and Development Review December 2006), 32-4. 9. Executive Summary, op. cit. 10. Tom Smith, â€Å"Generation Gaps in Attitudes and Values from the 1970s to the 1990s,† in R. A. Settersten, Jr. , F. F. Furstenberg, Jr. , and R. C. Rumbaut (eds. ), On the Frontier of Adulthood: Theory, Research, and Public Policy (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2004). 11. The Pew Research Center, â€Å"A Portrait of Generation Next,† Washington, DC, 2007. 12. Alasdair Crockett and David Voas, â€Å"Generations of Decline: Religious Change in the 20th Century,† Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (December 2006), 45-4. 3. David Coleman, â€Å"Immigration and Ethnic Change in Low-Fertility Countries: A Third Demographic Transition, † Population and Development Review 32-3 (September 2006), 401-446. 14. Philip Martin and Elizabeth Midgely, â€Å"Immigration: Shaping and Reshaping America,† Population Bulletin 58-2 (June 2003), p. 22. 15. Data from Monitoring the Future surveys, reported in this second half of this report. 16. For an important statement about this, see John Ashcroft and Phil Caroe, â€Å"Thriving Lives: Which Way for Well-Being? † Relationships Foundation, Cambridge, England (2007). SOCIAL INDICATORS OF MARITAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING TRENDS OF THE PAST FOUR DECADES Marriage Divorce Unmarried Cohabitation Loss of Child Centeredness Fragile Families with Children Teen Attitudes About Marriage and Family THE RED/BLUE AMERICAN FAMILY DIVIDE The Red State/Blue State divide has become a familiar theme in national politics. In a series of recent presidential elections, the so-called Red states have tended to vote Republican and the Blue states have voted Democratic. The Red states consist of the South (e. g. Alabama), the lower Midwest (e. g. Oklahoma), and the Mountain Region of the West (e. g. Montana). The Blue states are those of the Northeast (e. g. Massachusetts), the upper Midwest (e. g. Minnesota), and the West Coast (e. g. California). Less well known is the fact that the Red and Blue states also differ significantly in family terms, and this may help to explain their politics. The Red states typically have a more traditional family structure than the Blue States; people in the Red states marry younger and in larger numbers, cohabit outside of marriage less, and have more children. This is in large part because Red Staters are likely to be more religiously observant and to belong to denominations that profess allegiance to more conservative social values. However, the Red states also have higher divorce and out-of-wedlock birth rates than the Blue states, and these rates can hardly be considered indicators of traditionalism, much less religiosity. A closer look at the actual demographic differences among the states can help us to better understand the nature and causes of the Red/Blue American family divide. Red states have significantly higher marriage rates. The national marriage rate was 41 marriages per 1000 single women in 2005. Some of the highest marriage rates are found in the South, with Arkansas (77) and Alabama (54) leading the pack, and in the Mountain states of Idaho (66), Wyoming (60) and Utah (58). The lowest marriage rates, in contrast, are found in the Northeast with Pennsylvania (24), New Jersey (27), Delaware (28) and Connecticut (28) at the bottom. a) Higher marriage rates are associated with less non-marital cohabitation, and this also clusters geographically along Red/Blue lines. The national rate of unmarried partner households (as percent of all couple households) was 10% in 2005. States in the South and Midwest have the lowest percentages: Alabama (6%), Mississippi (8%), Kansas (8%), and Arkansas (8%). At the opposite pole are the states in the Northeast and Northwest: Vermont (14%), Maine (13%), Oregon (12%) and Washington (12%). (b) Statewide fertility rates fo llow a similar Red/Blue geographic distribution. The national fertility rate was 67 births per 1000 women ages 15-44 in 2005, but it was in the 70s in a number of Red states, Idaho (77), Kansas (70), and Georgia (70), and only in the 50s for Vermont (51), Maine (54) and Massachusetts (56). In addition to family traditionalism, the fertility rate in a number of southwestern States is greatly affected by the higher-fertility Hispanic population. (c) Put all together, these demographic characteristics add up to more married couples with children in the Red states and fewer in the Blue states, and this is ne of the biggest reasons for the Red/Blue political divide. Married people with children have tended disproportionately in recent presidential elections to favor the Republican Party. Indeed, for recent elections the correlation between married-with-children and voting Republican is one of the highest ever found between demographic factors and voting behavior. (d) Yet the Red states also, interestingly, have the highest out-of-wedloc k birth percentages and divorce rates. While 37% of all births in the U. S. ere out-of-wedlock in 2005, the unwed birth percentages for the Red states of Mississippi (49%) and Louisiana (48%) are far ahead of the Blue states of New Hampshire (27%) and Minnesota (30%) A closer examination, however, shows that this Red/Blue geographic pattern of unwed births is heavily dictated by the racial and ethnic make up of each state, as well as by educational and income levels. States such as Mississippi and Louisiana are at the top partly due to the extremely high unwed birth percentages for Blacks (77%) and Hispanics (50%). The state with the highest overall unwed birth percentage is New Mexico (51%), owing mainly to the contribution of its large Hispanic population. If one removes Blacks and Hispanics from the equation and looks just at unwed births among Whites, a geographic pattern more influenced by family traditionalism emerges. For the White population only, the unwed birth percentage in Mississippi (26%) is lower than for the White population in New Hampshire (27%). Unwed birth percentages below the national average of 25% for Whites are also found in the Red states of Alabama (21%), North Carolina (23%), and Georgia (23%). In contrast, above average unwed birth percentages for Whites are found the in secular and cohabitation-high Blue states of Vermont (32%) and Maine (35%) and Oregon (29%). (e) The picture is further complicated, however, by the fact that marriage, cohabitation, and unwed birth rates are so strongly affected by income and educational levels. In general, people with lower incomes and less education tend to marry less, cohabit more, and have more births out-of-wedlock. While professed traditional family values may help to generate fewer unwed births, they do not seem to provide much protection against divorce. The highest divorce rates are found in the more religiously-based Red states such as Arkansas (25), Oklahoma (25), and West Virginia (23), in striking contrast to more secular Blue states such as Pennsylvania (11), and Massachusetts (11). The national divorce rate was 16 divorces per 1000 married women in 2005. (f) Level of educational achievement is the single factor that probably best explains the geographic distribution of divorce. The lower the educational (and associated income) level, the higher the divorce rate, and educational levels are substantially lower in the Red states than in the Blue states. The Blue states of the West Coast stand as an exception to this education-based pattern, however, with the divorce rates for highly-educated Oregon and Washington being above the national average (probably California, too, but unfortunately divorce rates for that state are not available). In addition to education, therefore, another important causal factor in divorce may be the level of geographic mobility in a state, making the more recently settled and more transient populations of the West Coast and Mountain states more vulnerable to divorce. Mobility levels may also help to account for another geographic exception: the long-settled Red states of the Central Plains (e. g. Iowa and North Dakota) have very low divorce rates, comparable to those of the East Coast states. Footnotes: a. Calculations by the National Marriage Project obtained using data from the Current Population Surveys, March 2005 Supplement, as well as Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2005, National Vital Statistics Report 54:20, July 21, 2006, Table 3. The exceptionally high marriages rates in Nevada and Hawaii are not considered here because so many out-of-staters go to these states to get married. b. Calculations by the National Marriage Project using data downloaded from the American Community Survey, 2005. c. Fertility rates from â€Å"Births: Preliminary Data for 2005,† National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 55, No. 11, December 28, 2006. d. Ron J. Lesthaeghe and Lisa Neidert, â€Å"The Second Demographic Transition in the US: Exception or Textbook Example? ,† Population and Development Review 32:4 (December, 2006). e. Unmarried mother birth data from â€Å"Births: Preliminary Data for 2005,† National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 55, No. 11, December 28, 2006. f. Calculations by the National Marriage Project obtained using data from the Current Population Surveys, March 2005 Supplement less population in CA, GA, HI, IN, LA and MN to match unreported divorces in these states. Divorce counts from Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2005, National Vital Statistics Report 54:20, July 21, 2006, Table 3. The highest divorce rate, of course, is found in Nevada (38. ), and not considered here because of the out-of-stater problem. MARRIAGE Key Finding: Marriage trends in recent decades indicate that Americans have become less likely to marry, and the most recent data show that the marriage rate in the United States continues to decline. Of those who do marry, there has been a moderate drop since the 1970s in the percentage of couples who consider their marriages to be â₠¬Å"very happy,† but in the past decade this trend has swung in a positive direction. Americans have become less likely to marry. This is reflected in a decline of nearly 50 percent, from 1970 to 2005, in the annual number of marriages per 1000 unmarried adult women (Figure 1). Much of this decline—it is not clear just how much—results from the delaying of first marriages until older ages: the median age at first marriage went from 20 for females and 23 for males in 1960 to about 26 and 27, respectively, in 2005. Other factors accounting for the decline are the growth of unmarried cohabitation and a small decrease in the tendency of divorced persons to remarry. The decline also reflects some increase in lifelong singlehood, though the actual amount can not be known until current young and middle-aged adults pass through the life course. The percentage of adults in the population who are currently married has also diminished. Since 1960, the decline of those married among all persons age 15 and older has been 13 percentage points—and 25 points among black females (Figure 2). It should be noted that these data include both people who have never married and those who have married and then divorced. In order partially to control for a decline in married adults simply due to delayed first marriages, we have looked at changes in the percentage of persons age 35 through 44 who were married (Figure 3). Since 1960, there has been a drop of 20 percentage points for married men and 18 points for married women. (But the decline has not affected all segments of the population. See the accompanying box: The Marriage Gap. ) Marriage trends in the age range of 35 to 44 are suggestive of lifelong singlehood. In times past and still today, virtually all persons who were going to marry during their lifetimes had married by age 45. More than 90 percent of women have married eventually in every generation for which records exist, going back to the mid-1800s. By 1960, 94 percent of women then alive had been married at least once by age 45—probably an historical high point. (1) For the generation of 1995, assuming a continuation of then current marriage rates, several demographers projected that 88 percent of women and 82 percent of men would ever marry. 2) If and when these figures are recalculated for the early years of the 21st century, the percentage of women and men ever marrying will almost certainly be lower. It is important to note that the decline in marriage does not mean that people are giving up on living together with a sexual partner. On the contrary, with the incidence of unmarried cohabitation increasing rapidly, marriage is giving ground to unwed unions. Most people now live together before they marry for the first time. An even higher percentage of those divorced who subsequently remarry live together first. And a growing number of persons, both young and old, are living together with no plans for eventual marriage. There is a common belief that, although a smaller percentage of Americans are now marrying than was the case a few decades ago, those who marry have marriages of higher quality. It seems reasonable that if divorce removes poor marriages from the pool of married couples and cohabitation â€Å"trial marriages† deter some bad marriages from forming, the remaining marriages on average should be happier. The best available evidence on the topic, however, does not support these assumptions. Since 1973, the General Social Survey periodically has asked representative samples of married Americans to rate their marriages as either â€Å"very happy,† â€Å"pretty happy,† or â€Å"not too happy. â€Å"(3) As Figure 4 indicates, the percentage of both men and women saying â€Å"very happy† has declined moderately over the past 25 years. (4) This trend, however, is now heading in a positive direction. 1 Andrew J. Cherlin, Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992): 10; Michael R. Haines, â€Å"Long-Term Marriage Patterns in the United States from Colonial Times to the Present,† The History of the Family 1-1 (1996): 15-39. 2 Robert Schoen and Nicola Standish, â€Å"The Retrenchment of Marriage: Results from Marital Status Life Tables for the United States, 1995. † Population and Development Review 27-3 (2001): 553-563. 3 Conducted by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago, this is a nationally representative study of the English-speaking, non-institutionalized population of the United States age 18 and over. Using a different data set that compared marriages in 1980 with marriages in 1992, equated in terms of marital duration, Stacy J. Rogers and Paul Amato found similarly that the 1992 marriages had less marital interaction, more marital conflict, and more marital problems. â€Å"Is Marital Quality Declining? The Evidence from Two Generations,† Social Forces 75 (1997): 1089. THE MARRIAGE GAP There is good news a nd bad news on the marriage front. For the college-educated segment of our population, the institution of marriage appears to have gained strength in recent years. For everyone else, however, marriage continues to weaken. Thus there is a growing â€Å"marriage gap† in America, between those who are well educated and those who are not. Recent data indicates that, for the college educated, the institution of marriage may actually have strengthened. It once was the case that college-educated women married at a lower rate than their less educated peers. Indeed, marriage rates for college-educated women were lower well into the late 20th Century. Since around 1980, however, this situation has reversed. College-educated women are now marrying at a higher rate than their peers. Not only that, but the divorce rate among these women is relatively low and has been dropping. This may be due partly to the fact that college-educated women, once the leaders of the divorce revolution, now hold a more restrictive view of divorce than less well educated women. b The out-of-wedlock childbearing of college-educated women has always been well below that of other segments of the population. Now, among those who delay marriage past age 30, this is the only group becoming more likely to have children after marriage rather than before. c There is more good news. The marriages of the college educated have become more egalitarian than ever, both in the sense that husbands and wives are matched more equally in their educational and economic backgrounds, and that they hold more egalitarian attitudes about marital gender roles. d As icing on the cake, all of this may add up to greater marital happiness. The percentage of spouses among this group who rate their marriage as â€Å"very happy† has held fairly steady over recent decades, whereas for other parts of the population the percentage has dropped significantly. In large numbers, therefore, the college educated part of America is living the American dream—with happy, stable, two-parent families. There is one problem, however, and it is a serious one for the future of the nation. College-educated women aren’t having enough children to replace themselves. In 2004, for example, twenty four percent of women 40 to 44 years old with a bachelor’s degree were childless, com pared to only fifteen percent of those without a high school degree. f For the non college-educated population, unfortunately, the marriage situation remains gloomy. Marriage rates are continuing to decline, and the percentage of out-of-wedlock births is rising. In the year 2000, fully forty percent of high-school drop-out mothers were living without husbands, compared with just twelve percent of college-grad mothers. g Because of the many statistically well-documented benefits of marriage in such areas as income, health, and longevity, this gap is generating a society of greater inequality. America is becoming a nation divided not only by educational and income levels, but by unequal family structures. a Joshua R. Goldstein and Catherine T. Kenney, â€Å"Marriage Delayed or Marriage Foregone? New Cohort Forecasts of First Marriages for U. S. Women,† American Sociological Review 66-4 (2001): 506-519. b Steven P. Martin and Sangeeta Parashar, â€Å"Women’s Changing Attitudes Toward Divorce: 1974-2002: Evidence for an Educational Crossover,† Journal of Marriage and Family 68-1 (2006): 29-40. c Steven P. Martin, â€Å"Reassessing Delayed and Forgone Marriage in the United States,† unpublished manuscript (2004), Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. Robert Schoen and Yen-Hsin Alice Cheng, â€Å"Partner Choice and the Differential Retreat from Marriage,† Journal of Marriage Family 68-1 (2006): 1-10; Arland Thornton and Linda Young-DeMarco, â€Å"Four Decades of Trends in Attitudes Toward Family Issues in the United States: the 1960s Through the 1990s,† Journal of Marriage and Family 63-4 (2001): 1009-1037. e Calculation by the Na tional Marriage Project of data from The General Social Survey, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago. f Jane Lawler Dye, Fertility of American Women: June 2004, Current Population Report, P20-555, Washington, DC: U. S. Census Bureau (2005): Table 7. g David T. Ellwood and Christopher Jencks, â€Å"The Uneven Spread of Single-Parent Families,† in Kathryn M. Neckerman (ed. ) Social Inequality (New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2004), 3-77. |   | |Figure 1. Number of Marriages per 1,000 Unmarried Women Age 15 and Older, by Year, United States (a) | | |Year |Number | | | |1960 |73. |(b) | | |1970 |76. 5 | | | |1975 |66. 9 | | | |1980 |61. 4 | | | |1985 |56. | | | |1990 |54. 5 | | | |1995 |50. 8 | | | |2000 |46. 5 | | | |2005 |40. | | |a We have used the number of marriages per 1,000 unmarried women age 15 and older, rather than the Crude Marriage Rate of | |marriages per 1,000 population to help avoid the problem of compositional changes in the population, that is, changes which stem| |merely from there being more or less people in the marriageable ages. Even this more refined measure is somewhat susceptible to | |compositional changes. |b Per 1,000 unmarried women age 14 and older. | |S ource: U. S. Department of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2001, Page 87, Table 117; and Statistical | |Abstract of the United States, 1986, Page 79, Table 124. Figure for 2004 was obtained using data from the Current Population | |Surveys, March 2004 Supplement, as well as Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths: Provisional Data for 2005, National Vital | |Statistics Report 54:20, July 21, 2006, Table 3. http://www. cdc. gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_20. pdf) The CPS, March | |Supplement, is based on a sample of the U. S. population, rather than an actual count such as those available from the decennial | |census. See sampling and weighting notes at http://www. bls. census. gov:80/cps/ads/2002/ssampwgt. htm | |Figure 2. Percentage of All Persons Age 15 and Older Who Were Married, by Sex and Race, 1960-2005 United Statesa | | |Total Males |Black Males |White Males |Total Females |Black Females |White Females | | | | | | | | | |1960 |69. 3 |60. 9 |70. 2 |65. 9 |59. 8 |66. 6 | |1970 |66. 7 |56. 9 |68. |61. 9 |54. 1 |62. 8 | |1980 |63. 2 |48. 8 |65. 0 |58. 9 |44. 6 |60. 7 | |1990 |60. 7 |45. 1 |62. 8 |56. 9 |40. 2 |59. 1 | |2000 |57. 9 |42. 8 |60. 0 |54. 7 |36. 2 |57. 4 | |2006 |56. 3 |40. 9 |58. 5 |53. |34. 3 |56. 3 | |a Includes races other than Black and White. | |b In 2003, the U. S. Census Bureau expanded its racial categories to permit respondents to identify themselves as belonging to more than | |one race. This means that racial data computations beginning in 2004 may not be strictly comparable to those of prior years. | |Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P20-506; America’s Families and Living Arrangements: March 2000 and| |earlier reports; and data ca lculated from the Current Population Surveys, March 2006 Supplement. | |Figure 3. Percentage of Persons Age 35 through 44 Who Were Married by Sex, 1960-2005, United States | | | | | | | |Year |Males |Females | | |1960 |88. 0 |87. | | |1970 |89. 3 |86. 9 | | |1980 |84. 2 |81. 4 | | |1990 |74. 1 |73. 0 | | |2000 |69. 0 |71. | | |2006 |67. 9 |69. 5 | |Source: U. S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1961, Page 34, Table 27; Statistical Abstract of | |the United States, 1971, Page 32, Table 38; Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1981, Page 38, Table 49; and U. S. Bureau | |of the Census, General Population Characteristics, 1990, Page 45, Table 34; and Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2001,| |Page 48, Table 51; internet tables (http://www. ensus. gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2005/tabA1-all. pdf) and data calculated | |from the Current Population Surveys, March 2006 Supplement. Figure for 2006 was obtained using data from the Current Population | |Surveys rather than data from the census. The C PS, March Supplement, is based on a sample of the U. S. population, rather than an| |actual count such as those available from the decennial census. See sampling and weighting notes at | |http://www. bls. ensus. gov:80/cps/ads/2002/ssampwgt. htm | |Figure 4. Percentage of Married Persons Age 18 and Older Who Said Their Marriages Were â€Å"Very Happy,† by Period, United States | | | | | |Period |Men |Women | |1973-1976 |69. |68. 6 | |1977-1981 |68. 3 |64. 2 | |1982-1986 |62. 9 |61. 7 | |1987-1991 |66. 4 |59. | |1993-1996 |63. 2 |59. 7 | |1998-2004 |64. 4 |60. 4 | |Source: The General Social Survey, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago. The trend for| |both men and women is statistically significant (p How to cite The Future of Marriage in America, Papers