[jacobolus]

(a) Where did you get “upper middle class in the West” from? The further-back context of this subthread is “family stability in countries that are much poorer”. Specifically, I assume, rural or recently urbanized/industrialized countries. The more recent context is some (uncited) polling of all Americans; those who were in favor of school prayer etc. are (statistically) less well educated, more religious, whiter, and older, compared to the rest of the population.

But (b) sure this also applies to upper middle class people across “the West” as of not very long ago. It’s not that every household was full of abusers, but it was treated by the public as a private matter, not talked about, and much more widespread than publicly recognized.

[zozbot234]

> poll of public opinion

Public opinion tells us little about real-world behavior. The whole point of OP is that the upper-middle class liberal elites are not practicing what they preach to the rubes and proles.

[jacobolus]

What is your point? This thread is a tangent from the original article.

My claim is that “low divorce rates” historically often masked widespread abuse and unhappiness in stressed (even broken) marriages which were continued due to social pressure, not always for the best.

* * *

As for the article, this causal claim is wildly speculative bullshit:

"The educated class decides cohabiting partnerships are just as valid and important as marriage. And they also believe it’s okay to walk away at a moment’s notice from a cohabiting relationship. ¶ Poor and working-class people follow suit. To the detriment of themselves and their children."

The problem working-class people have is not bad “elite” role models, but a lack of money and good stable jobs, limited parental leave, a lack of cheap childcare options, a corrupt and exploitative criminal justice system, etc.

The supporting evidence presented in TFA is some papers about how people find newspaper op-eds persuasive, are impressed by qualifications when reading public policy recommendations, and choose their high heel shoe height based on local trends when moving to a rich neighborhood; extrapolating from this to young working-class parents separating from their partners because “elites” say it is okay is a ridiculous stretch. Especially when the young women directly quoted said clearly why they broke up. Occam’s razor says we should listen to what they say instead of inventing some secret reason without any direct evidence.