Family

In 2017, there were approximately 83 million families in the United States, with an average of 2.54 people per family unit.¹ Globally, marriage rates are declining, and the age at which the average man or woman becomes married is rising.² Belgium currently holds the highest divorce rate at 71 percent, Portugal follows with 68 percent, then Hungary with 67 percent, the Czech Republic with 66 percent, Spain at 61 percent, Luxembourg with 60 percent, Estonia at 58 percent, Cuba with 56 percent, France at 55 percent and the United States with 53 percent.³ There are an estimated 258.5 million widows worldwide with a total of 584.6 million children between them.⁴ Nearly 769 million women and 290 million children are the victims of domestic violence each year.⁵ The World Health Organization estimates that one in every three women worldwide have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence carried out by a partner. Forty-two percent of women who report experiencing violence at the hand of a partner also report sustaining an injury.⁶ Nearly half of young women worldwide — almost 126 million — believe it can be acceptable for a husband to strike his wife.⁷ Out of 195 nations around the world, 143 constitutionally guarantee equality between men and women. In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly voted to form a UN task force to pursue the equality of women in social and legal practice.⁸ In the United States, 60.2 per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44 become pregnant each year,⁹ resulting in 3.86 million births in 2017¹⁰ — the lowest birth rate in the last three decades.¹¹ Three of every four women who have an abortion in the United States cite that the reason for their abortion is that they are unable to afford a child. Over one million infants are aborted in the United States each year.¹²