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Valentine's Day report: seven ways marriage is changing

It seems Valentine's Day, when 10 percent of all marriage proposals take place, is one of the few constants in the institution of marriage. Here are seven ways marriage has changed from 50 years ago, when marriage was between a man and a woman barely into their twenties, of the same race and social class, till death did them part.

7. Marriage's red/blue divide

Newscom
A couple poses for wedding pictures in Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

  • By Husna Haq Correspondent

What parts of the country have the highest marriage rates? Wedding bells are ringing out west. Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, and Nebraska had the highest marriage rates in 2008, according to the National Center for Family and Marriage Research.

Folks are staying unhitched in the Northeast. Washington, D.C., Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Delaware, and New York had the lowest marriage rates in 2008. About 6 percent of unmarried women over age 15 got married in Utah in 2008, compared with about 2 percent in Washington, D.C.

Marriage rates tend to follow a blue state/red state pattern, with higher marriage rates in politically conservative states, and vice versa – even down to county levels, says Mr. Wilcox of the National Marriage Project.

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