United States

The use of family values as a political term dates back to 1976, when it appeared in the
Republican Party platform.[8] The phrase became more widespread after Vice President Dan
Quayle used it in a speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention. Quayle had also
launched a national controversy when he criticized the television program Murphy Brown for
a story line that depicted the title character becoming a single mother by choice, citing it as an
example of how popular culture contributes to a "poverty of values", and saying: "[i]t doesn't
help matters when primetime TV has Murphy Browna character who supposedly
epitomizes today's intelligent, highly paid, professional womanmocking the importance of
fathers, by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another 'lifestyle choice'". Quayle's
remarks initiated widespread controversy, and have had a continuing effect on U.S. politics.
[citation needed]
Stephanie Coontz, a professor of family history and the author of several books
and essays about the history of marriage, says that this brief remark by Quayle about Murphy
Brown "kicked off more than a decade of outcries against the 'collapse of the family'".[9]
The media in the United States, the Christian right often promotes the term family values to
refer to their version of Familialism.[10][11]
In 1998, a Harris survey found that:

52% of women and 42% of men thought family values means "loving, taking care of,
and supporting each other"

38% of women and 35% of men thought family values means "knowing right from
wrong and having good values"

2% of women and 1% men thought of family values in terms of the "traditional

family"

The survey noted that 93% of all women thought that society should value all types of
families (Harris did not publish the responses for men).[12]
Republican Party
Since 1980, the Republican Party has used the issue of family values to attract socially
conservative voters.[13] While "family values" remains an amorphous concept, social
conservatives usually understand the term to include some combination of the following
principles[citation needed] (also referenced in the 2004 Republican Party platform):[14]

opposition to sex outside of marriage

support for a traditional role for women in "the family"

opposition to same-sex marriage

support for complementarianism[15][16][17]

opposition to legalized induced abortion

support for abstinence education

support for policies said to protect children from obscenity and exploitation

Social and religious conservatives often use the term "family values" to promote conservative
ideology that supports traditional morality or Christian values.[18] Some American
conservative Christians see their religion as the source of morality and consider the nuclear
family an essential element in society. For example, "The American Family Association
exists to motivate and equip citizens to change the culture to reflect Biblical truth and
traditional family values."[19] Such groups[which?] variously oppose abortion, pornography, premarital sex, polygamy, homosexuality, certain aspects of feminism, cohabitation, separation
of church and state, legalization of recreational drugs, and depictions of sexuality in the
media.[20]
Democratic Party
Although the term "family values" remains a core issue for the Republican Party, in recent
years[when?] the Democratic Party has also used the term, though differing in its definition. For
example, in his acceptance speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, John Kerry
said "it is time for those who talk about family values to start valuing families".[21]
The Democratic Party definitions of family values often[quantify] include items that specifically
target working families, such as support for:[citation needed]

a living wage

universal health care

the acceptance of adoption by same-sex couples

the acceptance of the non-traditional family (single parent households and same-sex
marriages)

social programs and financial aid for families

Other liberals have used the phrase to support such values as family planning, affordable
child-care, and maternity leave.[22] For example, groups such as People For the American
Way, Planned Parenthood, and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays have attempted to
define the concept in a way that promotes the acceptance of single-parent families, same-sex
monogamous relationships and marriage. This understanding of family values does not
promote conservative morality, instead focusing on encouraging and supporting alternative
family structures, access to contraception and abortion, increasing the minimum wage, sex
education, childcare, and parent-friendly employment laws, which provide for maternity
leave and leave for medical emergencies involving children.[23]

While conservative sexual ethics focus on preventing premarital or non-procreative sex,

liberal sexual ethics are typically[quantify] directed rather towards consent, regardless of whether
or not the partners are married.[24][25][26]

A woman at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear holding a sign that declares her ideas of
family values
Demographics
Population studies have found that in 2004 and 2008, liberal-voting ("blue") states have lower
rates of divorce and teenage pregnancy than conservative-voting ("red") states. June Carbone,
author of Red Families vs. Blue Families, opines that the driving factor is that people in
liberal states tend to wait longer before getting married.[27]
A 2002 government survey found that 95% of adult Americans had premarital sex. This
number had risen slightly from the 1950s, when it was nearly 90%. The median age of first
premarital sex has dropped in that time from 20.4 to 17.6.[28]