The Millennial Generation, or Generation Y, values effective parenting over a successful marriage even more than past generations, a March 9 study by the Pew Research Center said.
The study showed 52 percent of Millennials polled — those aged 18-29 in 2010 — thought being a good parent was of utmost importance in life, while 30 percent thought the same of having a successful marriage.
The 22 percent difference between parenting and marriage has increased since the last time the poll was conducted in 1997. The survey of Generation X indicated only 7 percent of Generation X valued parenting more than marriage.
The March study also said 36 percent of Millennials are parents, but only 22 percent of the generation is currently married.
Craig Poche, history junior, is part of the married Millennial minority and disagrees with the study’s findings.
He said individuals may value parenting more because of bad relationships with their own parents. While neglecting a child is a bad choice, neglecting a spouse’s needs can produce equally bad results, Poche said.
“Marriage is more important,” Poche said. “Ignoring your spouse is not a good decision.”
Education graduate student Heather Johnston Durham is a wife and mother who belongs to Generation X, those currently aged 30-45.
“I think raising physically and emotionally healthy children trumps a lot of things,” Durham said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille.
She also said she agrees with the study because stability in a home is far more important than the number of parents involved.
But having a partner in the equation does make a difference, she said.
Durham said she admires single parents, and many of her Generation X peers hold the same sentiments.
“Since many of us come from single-parent or blended-family homes, our own experience may tell us that the traditional, nuclear family is not the only successful model,” Durham said.
Ashley Baggett, history graduate student, is a married Generation Y mother. Like those polled, Baggett said parenting is of great importance.
However, she doesn’t agree with stigmatizing single parenthood. The study shows 63 percent of Millennials think single motherhood is bad for society, but Baggett said this belief is an unhealthy assumption.
Baggett said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille that her marriage has helped her parenting abilities because her husband is equally involved as a parent.
“He is actively engaged with raising our children, and I appreciate and enjoy having a supportive spouse,” she said.
The study also showed different generations’ opinion of the traditional family structure. When asked if marriage is becoming obsolete, 44 percent of Millennials and 43 percent of Generation X members responded “yes,” but only 35 percent of Baby Boomers — aged 46-64 — agreed.
James Honeycutt, communication studies professor, said divorce rates have consistently increased since the 1960s, disillusioning younger generations.
The definition of a family is constantly expanding for members of Generation X and Millennials, Honeycutt said, and American society has been more accepting of disposable relationships.
Social networking provokes this trend, Honeycutt said, because the decrease of face-to-face communication has changed the way we relate.
Young parents are looking to the Internet for help while previous generations tended to seek the advice of elders, Honeycutt said. Today’s generations have experienced broken homes and the decline of the traditional family.
“The current parenting style is much less disciplined,” Honeycutt said.
The way parents relate to their children could change because of social networking, Honeycutt said, explaining that more parent-child Facebook friendships will exist as Millennials become parents. Social networking privacy settings may become one of the biggest concerns for parents of this generation, he said.
Lauren Lenox, sports administration freshman, said she doesn’t subscribe to the study because she values the traditional family style.
“Both a mother and a father are required for a good family,” Lenox said, adding that she disapproves of the non-traditional family styles that have emerged in the past decades.
Parenting is most important, but a marriage can greatly benefit a family, said math senior Mark Davis. Davis said he grew up with divorced parents, spending equal time with each.
“It takes a really special person to be a single parent,” he said.
 
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Contact Brian Sibille at [email protected]