Dr. Brad Wilcox on The Closing of the American Heart
Oct 14, 2026 · 42 min · 11 segments
Dr. Brad Wilcox joins our own Brian and Nick as they discuss how young adults struggle to find love, why it matters and how we can help.
Oct 14, 2026 · 42 min · 11 segments
Dr. Brad Wilcox joins our own Brian and Nick as they discuss how young adults struggle to find love, why it matters and how we can help.
So I think there's, there's, there's, you know, we're talking about the, the good news here at The Lewis House-
Yeah
Yeah.
The bad news, I would say, is that we're seeing kind of like the closing of the American heart unfold, where more and more adults I think are struggling to date To mate, to marry, and to have a family today.
So, you know, we've seen, for instance, the marriage rates come down 60% since 1970.
We've seen dating, you know, drop for high school seniors by about 50% since the 1990s.
So there's a lot of trends that are, I, I think, worrisome when it comes to sort of how women and men are navigating all of this stuff.
Um, and this is consequential because when it comes to things like early mortality, or when it comes to things like prosperity, when it comes to-
Right
... happiness, what we see is that, you know, often it's the case that really nothing compares to marriage, um, on a lot of these important social and emotional and, and financial outcomes.
We've got Thomas Jefferson as kind of our, our secular saint in Charlottesville.
Sure.
Yeah.
Um, and you know, he was obviously the primary author of the Declaration, talked about the importance of the, the pursuit of happiness.
And what we've seen, you know, in the last even 15 years what's been called a kind of a happiness crash unfolding-
Mm
Meaning that you're seeing r- people-
Down, yeah.
So I think there's, there's, there's, you know, we're talking about the, the good news here at The Lewis House-
Yeah
Yeah.
The bad news, I would say, is that we're seeing kind of like the closing of the American heart unfold, where more and more adults I think are struggling to date To mate, to marry, and to have a family today.
So, you know, we've seen, for instance, the marriage rates come down 60% since 1970.
We've seen dating, you know, drop for high school seniors by about 50% since the 1990s.
So there's a lot of trends that are, I, I think, worrisome when it comes to sort of how women and men are navigating all of this stuff.
Um, and this is consequential because when it comes to things like early mortality, or when it comes to things like prosperity, when it comes to-
Right
... happiness, what we see is that, you know, often it's the case that really nothing compares to marriage, um, on a lot of these important social and emotional and, and financial outcomes.
We've got Thomas Jefferson as kind of our, our secular saint in Charlottesville.
Sure.
Yeah.
Um, and you know, he was obviously the primary author of the Declaration, talked about the importance of the, the pursuit of happiness.
And what we've seen, you know, in the last even 15 years what's been called a kind of a happiness crash unfolding-
Mm
Meaning that you're seeing r- people-
Down, yeah.
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