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DEEP_RESEARCH_PROMPT_1973-1989

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DEEP RESEARCH PROMPT: 1973-1989 The Aftermath

CONTEXT

This research documents the AFTERMATH of the 1968-1973 Great Decoupling. The trends that began in the inflection period now accelerate and normalize. Divorce becomes routine, cohabitation emerges, religious attendance continues declining, and the culture wars begin. This is the period where America learns to live with its new moral baseline.

YOUR TASK

Find verified statistics for 1973-1989 across all domains. NOTE: You have domain data sheets for 1974-2025 - this prompt is for the NARRATIVE paper, focusing on key inflection points and cultural moments.

KEY EVENTS TO DOCUMENT (with statistics)

FAMILY TRANSFORMATION

  • No-fault divorce spreads: By what year did all 50 states adopt it?
  • Divorce rate trajectory (peaked ~1980 at 5.2 per 1,000?)
  • Cohabitation emergence: What were rates by 1980? 1989?
  • Latchkey children phenomenon
  • Single-parent household rates by decade
  • Out-of-wedlock birth rates (accelerating)

RELIGIOUS DECLINE

  • Church attendance year-by-year 1973-1989
  • Rise of “None” religious affiliation
  • Mainline Protestant collapse (specific denominations)
  • Evangelical counter-movement (Moral Majority 1979)
  • Televangelism rise and scandals (Bakker, Swaggart)

MEDIA & CULTURE

  • Cable TV penetration (HBO 1972, MTV 1981)
  • Content standards erosion - document specific breakthroughs
  • Pornography: VHS revolution made it private
  • Music: Punk, heavy metal, explicit lyrics (PMRC hearings 1985)
  • Movies: R-rated content normalization

INSTITUTIONAL TRUST

  • Watergate aftermath: Trust levels 1974-1980
  • Carter malaise era attitudes
  • Reagan restoration (did trust recover?)
  • Iran-Contra impact

CRIME & PATHOLOGY

  • Violent crime trajectory (peaked early 1990s)
  • Drug epidemic: Crack cocaine 1980s
  • AIDS crisis moral dimensions
  • Teen pregnancy rates

ECONOMIC SHIFTS

  • Stagflation impact on families
  • Two-income household becomes necessity
  • Savings rate decline
  • Consumer debt rise

OUTPUT FORMAT

Focus on NARRATIVE + KEY STATISTICS rather than exhaustive tables. This is for a decade paper, not a data sheet.

## [PERIOD/THEME]

### The Story
[2-3 paragraphs of narrative]

### Key Statistics
- [Stat 1 with source]
- [Stat 2 with source]

### Defining Moment
[One event that crystallizes the shift]

ZEITGEIST FIGURES NEEDED

  • Who embodies 1970s drift? (Example: key divorce case, cultural figure)
  • Who embodies 1980s culture war? (Example: Moral Majority leader, MTV figure)

COUNTER-CURRENT FIGURES NEEDED

  • Christian resistance: Who was building while culture burned?
  • Francis Schaeffer? Chuck Colson? James Dobson?

Graph View