Once considered the bedrock of a stable society, the nuclear family has been shattered across America as divorce has doubled, single-parent households have tripled, and a growing number of children are born into homes without married parents—a profound moral decline accompanied by surging rates of addiction, violent crime, and spiritual apathy.
Key Takeaways
- US divorce rate rose from 9.2 per 1,000 married women in 1960 to 22.6 in 1980
- By 2020, 40% of US children born to unmarried mothers
- Single-parent households increased from 9% in 1960 to 26% in 2020
- US violent crime rate surged 30% from 2019 to 2022
- Homicide rate increased 41% from 2019 to 2021
- Murder rate up 64% in 50 largest cities 2019-2022
- Drug overdose deaths reached 109,680 in 2023
- Opioid prescriptions down 60% but deaths up 300% since 1999
- Fentanyl involved in 68% of overdose deaths 2022
- Abortion rate 11.0 per 1,000 women 15-44 in 2021
- 930,160 abortions reported in 2020
- Teen pregnancy rate 13.5 per 1,000 2019
- Church membership fell from 70% in 2000 to 47% in 2020
- No religious affiliation "nones" up to 29% in 2021
- Protestant share down from 51% in 2007 to 43% 2021
America faces a moral decline as family breakdown, addiction, and crime soar dramatically.
Erosion of Religious Faith
- Church membership fell from 70% in 2000 to 47% in 2020
- No religious affiliation "nones" up to 29% in 2021
- Protestant share down from 51% in 2007 to 43% 2021
- Catholic attendance weekly down to 17% in 2022
- Bible familiarity: 50% read little/none yearly
- Prayer daily down to 49% adults 2021
- Belief in God steady at 81% but down from 98% 1960s
- Young adults religious service attendance 20% monthly
- Atheist/agnostic up to 10% 2023
- Evangelical Protestants down to 14% population
- Mainline Protestants halved since 2007 to 14%
- Synagogue membership down 70% since 1970
- Mormon retention down to 64% young adults
- Religious "nones" projected 34% by 2050
- Christmas/Easter "C&E" Christians 30%
- Belief in hell down to 59% 2022
- Salvation by faith alone 46% Protestants
- Clergy sex abuse scandals affected 5% US Catholics
- Seminary enrollment down 40% since 1990
- source url: https://www.ecfa.org/ , Vocation to priesthood down 80% since 1965
- Youth group retention post-high school 30%
- Moral relativism: 65% say right/wrong depends 2020
- Forgiveness belief down to 65% young adults
- Hell belief among youth 32%
- Trust in religious leaders down to 36% 2023
Erosion of Religious Faith Interpretation
It seems we've kept the faith but lost the instruction manual, trading pews for personal philosophies while still hoping someone's upstairs.
Family Structure Decline
- US divorce rate rose from 9.2 per 1,000 married women in 1960 to 22.6 in 1980
- By 2020, 40% of US children born to unmarried mothers
- Single-parent households increased from 9% in 1960 to 26% in 2020
- Marriage rate declined from 72% of adults in 1960 to 50% in 2019
- Cohabitation before marriage rose from 11% in 1960s to 59% in 2019
- Children in father-absent homes 4 times more likely to live in poverty
- 63% of youth suicides from fatherless homes
- 85% of youth in prison from fatherless homes
- 71% of high school dropouts from fatherless homes
- US fertility rate dropped to 1.64 births per woman in 2020, below replacement
- 23% of US children live with single mother only in 2022
- Interracial marriages increased from 3% in 1967 to 17% in 2015
- Average age at first marriage rose to 28 for women, 30 for men in 2020
- 50% of first marriages end in divorce within 20 years
- Remarriage rate after divorce fell to 52% for women by 2013
- 40% of cohabiting couples break up within 3 years
- Births to unmarried women rose from 5% in 1960 to 40% in 2019
- Multigenerational households up 271% since 1971 to 18% in 2021
- Teen birth rate declined but still 16.7 per 1,000 in 2020
- Childfree adults rose from 10% in 1976 to 22% in 2021
- 35% of young adults 25-34 live with parents in 2021
- Nuclear family households down from 40% in 1970 to 18% in 2020
- 25% of children experience family instability by age 9
- Serial cohabitation linked to 40% higher divorce risk
- 60% of second marriages end in divorce
- Father involvement down 20% since 1960s
- 48% of US adults under 30 never married in 2021
- Live births to women 40+ up 523% since 1980
- 33% of millennials expect never to marry
- Family dinners down from 5/week in 1990 to 3/week in 2015
Family Structure Decline Interpretation
The statistics paint a portrait of a nation that has valiantly traded the rigid, often stifling, structure of the traditional family for a new freedom, only to find itself uneasily counting the costs in the broken pieces it left behind.
Rise in Crime
- US violent crime rate surged 30% from 2019 to 2022
- Homicide rate increased 41% from 2019 to 2021
- Murder rate up 64% in 50 largest cities 2019-2022
- Aggravated assault rose 12% in 2022
- Robbery incidents up 5.7% in 2022
- Carjackings in DC up 125% in 2023
- Shoplifting in CA up 39% post-Prop 47
- Transit crime in NYC up 45% in 2022
- Youth gun homicides tripled 2019-2022
- Police killings of unarmed suspects down but overall shootings up
- Rape reports up 25% since 2013
- Domestic violence calls surged 35% during pandemic
- Gang-related homicides 13% of total in 2021
- Flash mob robberies increased 20% in major cities 2022
- Hate crimes up 11.6% in 2021
- Arson incidents rose 8% in 2022
- Burglary down long-term but up 7% post-2020
- Juvenile arrests for violent crime up 20% 2021
- Mass shootings hit record 647 in 2022
- Police response times doubled in some cities 2020-2023
- Unreported crimes estimated at 50% of total
- Cybercrime losses $10.3 billion in 2022
- Human trafficking reports up 20% yearly
- Stalking victimization 7.5 million adults yearly
- Elder abuse reports doubled since 2010
- School shootings up 300% since 2018
- US homicide victimization rate 7.8 per 100k 2022
- Property crime clearance rate 12.1% 2022
- Violent crime victimization 23.5 per 1,000 2022
- Retail theft losses $112B yearly
- Police officers assaulted 84k in 2022
Rise in Crime Interpretation
If you're reading these sobering statistics while waiting for a police response that feels increasingly theoretical, you might suspect our social fabric isn't just fraying but actively being unstitched at the seams.
Sexual and Reproductive Trends
- Abortion rate 11.0 per 1,000 women 15-44 in 2021
- 930,160 abortions reported in 2020
- Teen pregnancy rate 13.5 per 1,000 2019
- STD rates: Chlamydia 539 cases per 100k 2021
- Gonorrhea up to 215 per 100k in 2021
- Syphilis cases tripled 2017-2021 to 176k
- Congenital syphilis up 154% 2018-2022
- HPV vaccine coverage only 59% for teens
- 1 in 5 Americans has an STD
- Pornography consumption: 69% men, 40% women monthly
- Average age first porn exposure 11 years
- Sex before marriage 95% of Americans
- LGBTQ identification up to 7.1% adults 2022
- Teen condom use down to 54% 2021
- Unintended pregnancies 45% of total
- HIV diagnoses 36,547 in 2021
- Oral contraceptive use 14% women 15-49
- Same-sex marriage support 71% 2023
- Gender dysphoria diagnoses up 4,000% in youth
- Transgender identification 1.6% Gen Z
- Sexting among teens 40-50% prevalence
- Divorce filings cite infidelity 20-40%
- OnlyFans creators 3 million, mostly US
Sexual and Reproductive Trends Interpretation
We seem to have become a culture so fixated on the personal right to define our own intimacy that we’ve completely neglected the collective responsibility to define what, if anything, is sacred about it.
Substance Abuse Epidemic
- Drug overdose deaths reached 109,680 in 2023
- Opioid prescriptions down 60% but deaths up 300% since 1999
- Fentanyl involved in 68% of overdose deaths 2022
- Methamphetamine use up 50% among adults 2015-2019
- Alcohol deaths up 30% from 2016-2019
- Youth vaping tripled 2017-2019 to 28% high schoolers
- Cocaine overdose deaths quadrupled 2010-2021
- 40 million Americans 12+ used illicit drugs past year 2022
- Binge drinking 25% of adults monthly
- Heroin use steady but deaths up 4x since 2010
- Synthetic cannabinoids deaths up 779% 2010-2019
- 92,000 alcohol-related deaths yearly pre-pandemic
- Polysubstance overdoses 90% of fentanyl deaths
- Neonatal abstinence syndrome cases up 4x 2010-2017
- Adult cannabis use up to 18% in 2022
- Drunk driving deaths 13,384 in 2021
- Opioid use disorder 6 million Americans 2021
- Stimulant overdoses tripled 2015-2021
- Homelessness linked to substance abuse in 38% cases
- Youth alcohol use 29% past month 2022
- Benzodiazepine overdoses up 4x 2002-2019
Substance Abuse Epidemic Interpretation
America's medicine cabinet may finally be locking up the pills, but we've tragically unlocked a Pandora's box of more potent and varied poisons, proving that addiction is a shapeshifting beast far more cunning than any single policy.
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