Marriage rates are collapsing in the United States, according to polling data, but a wide partisan gap suggests that a reduction in marriage is a symptom of a broader rejection of traditional institutions.

“For 40 years during the middle of the 20th century, Gallup recorded little difference in the marriage rates of middle-aged Republicans and Democrats,” but “a gap emerged in the 1980s as the rate fell rapidly for Democrats but much less so for Republicans,” according to the poll.