Strengthening families a priority for Americans

Christian Century, Sept 27, 2000

A new poll finds that most Americans believe that strengthening families is a greater priority than having a cleaner environment or increasing job opportunities. The poll, released August 30 by the year-old Alliance for Marriage, found that 59 percent of Americans view the state of the family as "not very strong" or "weak and losing ground," compared to 40 percent who think it is "reasonably strong" or "very strong and growing."

Seventy-seven percent of those polled said strengthening families is more important than creating a cleaner environment, while 22 percent said creating a cleaner environment is more important. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said strengthening families is more important than increasing job opportunities, while 35 percent thought job opportunities are more important than stronger families.

Ninety-two percent of Americans agreed with the following statement: "We can only go forward in this country if families and family values are strengthened." Seven percent disagreed and 1 percent did not know or refused to answer.

The Wirthlin Worldwide poll surveyed 1,030 American adults representing a cross-section of the country. The overall margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points. "There is a deep and wide consensus in America about the critical importance of the health of families for health of our societies," said Matt Daniels, executive director of the Alliance for Marriage, a social-policy organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, that includes representatives of a variety of faith groups on its board of advisers. "This is social issue number one for this nation."

Other findings by the survey: 87 percent of the respondents said they would support initiatives encouraging businesses to offer flex-time, job-sharing or home-based work options; 78 percent support requiring counseling for parental couples who are considering divorce.

--RNS