The Nation - News from Dec. 25, 1986

Despite the high divorce rate, alcohol and drug use, poverty and other problems that are undermining the U.S. family, as high a proportion of Americans today (45%) as in 1980 (47%) say they are “very satisfied” with their family life, according to a Gallup Poll. In the current survey, as in the 1980 survey, about equal proportions say they are “very” and “mostly” satisfied. Few in either survey said they were either mostly or very dissatisfied. Younger persons and survey respondents with relatively little formal education are less likely than their counterparts to say they are “very satisfied” with their family life.