• Among young adults today, an astonishing 94 percent of single men and women (ages 20-29) believe that "when you marry, you want your spouse to be your soul mate, first and foremost." Eighty-four percent believe there is one person "out there" who is specially destined to be their soul mate.

• Recent surveys show that 70 percent of Americans disagreed with the statement that "the main purpose of marriage is having children," while nearly 80 percent of "younger American men and women" disagreed with the same statement.

• The uneasy tension between adult desires for intimacy, and children’s needs for security and attention during prime child-rearing years, often leads to greater marital discontent and creates unrealistic expectations that, if unfulfilled, may lead to disappointment, estrangement and even a search for a new soul mate.

• The exacting emotional requirements of a soul-mate relationship contribute both to unhappier, more fragile marriages and a persistently high rate of parental divorce. In the past, when marriage was more closely linked to the tasks of child rearing, parents believed they had an obligation to stay together "for the sake of the children."

• Today, children seem almost an afterthought in parents’ thinking on divorce. Only 15 percent of the population agrees that, "When there are children in the family, parents should stay together even if they don't get along."

• Finally, all-pervasive media images wage a relentless assault on traditional marriage. At a time when demands of work inflict a heavy toll on many marriages, resulting in chronically stressed, time-starved and sleep-deprived parents, the popular culture promotes images of sexy singles and hot romance that undermine parental commitment to marriage and children.

Demographic Trends Shifting Priorities Away from Children

Americans today live longer, have fewer children, and spend a longer proportion of their lives as single adults than in a continuous marriage. This yields profound demographic effects within families and communities, as adults are less likely to be living with children, neighborhoods are less likely to contain children, and children are less likely to be a presence in daily life.

• In 1960, the proportion of one's life spent living with a spouse and children was 62 percent; by 1985, the percentage had dropped to 43 percent, the lowest in U.S. history.

• By 2010, married couples with children will account for only 20 percent of total households, while households with children will account for slightly more than 25 percent, the lowest in over a century.

• In short, children will continue to be pushed to the margins of society and – except when they cause mayhem – to the sidelines of our social consciousness.

Part III of this report will appear in this space on Monday. To read Part I, click here. -- Editor