View of marriage shifts

Nearly four in 10 Americans consider marriage obsolete, the Pew Research Center found in a survey released in November.

But those who call marriage obsolete may be voicing a fear, not expressing a wish, said David Popenoe, a sociologist and co-director of the National Marriage Project.

"Everybody knows marriage is a weak institution. ... Marriage has become so fragile it's a sense of, 'Let's not go through a divorce if we don't have to.'"

The study, "The Decline of Marriage and Rise of New Families," also found that for the first time in 15 years of polling on the issue, less than half of respondents oppose same-sex marriage.