Marriage Media
Week of October 10, 2011
Courtesy of Bill Coffin
1. ‘Living Together,’ Unmarried? Put a Ring on It!, The Washington Post
Sociologists often speak of how generations are shaped by what they are denied. The millennial generation has seen and felt the heartbreak surrounding divorce. Many of us were denied a stable home environment, so we struggle with commitment — not out of rebellion, but simply because we did not see “till death do us part” modeled by our parents. That doesn’t mean we don’t want it, though; being deprived of seeing many examples of long-lasting, unconditional love has actually caused us to desire it deeply.
2. All the Single Ladies, The Atlantic
Recent years have seen an explosion of male joblessness and a steep decline in men’s life prospects that have disrupted the “romantic market” in ways that narrow a marriage-minded woman’s options: increasingly, her choice is between deadbeats (whose numbers are rising) and playboys (whose power is growing). But this strange state of affairs also presents an opportunity: as the economy evolves, it’s time to embrace new ideas about romance and family—and to acknowledge the end of “traditional” marriage as society’s highest ideal.
3. Second Chances: A Proposal to Reduce Unnecessary Divorce, The Brookings Institution
There are two popular misconceptions about divorce: that it happens only after a long process of misery and conflict, and that once they file for divorce, couples don’t entertain the idea of reconciling. But the majority of divorced couples report average happiness and low levels of conflict in the years prior to their divorce, and new research shows that in at least 10 percent of divorcing couples, both spouses are open to efforts to reconcile–and in another 30 percent, at least one spouse has interest in reconciliation. This research also suggests that the high divorce rate in the U.S. is not only costly to taxpayers and harmful to children, but that a substantial number of today’s divorces may be preventable.
4. Can’t Buy Love: Materialism Kills Marriages, ABC News
In a survey of 1,700 married couples, researchers found that couples in which one or both partners placed a high priority on getting or spending money were much less likely to have satisfying and stable marriages.
“Our study found that materialism was associated with spouses having lower levels of responsiveness and less emotional maturity. Materialism was also linked to less effective communication, higher levels of negative conflict, lower relationship satisfaction, and less marriage stability,” said Jason Carroll, a BYU professor of family life in Provo, Utah, and lead author of the study.
5. Helping Marriages Go The Distance, National Public Radio
The new book, ‘I Do … Every Day: Words of Wisdom for Newlyweds, and Not So Newlyweds’ offers common sense advice and surprising tips for maintaining healthy marriages. Journalist Cynthia Bond Hopson and Reverend Roger Hopson write from experience — they’ve been happily married for 35 years, with two children and four grandchildren. They speak with host Michel Martin about their book, marriage and advice for couples.
6. ‘Family Structure’ Said to Trump ‘Wanted’ as Key to a Child’s Future, The Washington Times
But what do children think about being created to live in a home that is intentionally missing a parent? Little research has been done on this, but many young adults who were conceived by anonymous sperm donation believe “it is wrong that they were intentionally denied knowledge of their father’s identity,” said Ms. Marquardt, who directs the Center for Marriage and Families at IAV.
7. Marriage Matters: Secrets of a Strong Economy, Sturgis Journal
Most recently this overlap is highlighted because of a new report “The Sustainable Demographic Dividend: What Do Marriage and Fertility Have To Do With the Economy?” issued by the National Marriage Project at University of Virginia. Specifically, seven economic sectors – child care, life insurance and personal insurance, household products and services, health care, food, home maintenance and services, and pets and toys — experience growth directly linked to people getting married and having children and also suffer when marriage and fertility rates fall.
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