Deseret News, Tuesday, November 26, 2002 Deseret News editorial
Every now and then a study comes along that puts old problems in a new light. Last week, the Toledo Blade reported that a Bowling Green State University professor has found that while fewer cohabitating couples end up getting married these days, 75 percent the women in these couples still expect it to happen some day. A lot of bad things can be said about the trend away from marriage. One of the worst is that it fails to provide any sense of stability or security. Apparently, most women in these situations still want this, but their male partners do not. That's not too surprising. Women generally tend to get the worst end of any decision to end a relationship. They end up with a lot of burdens and few advantages, particularly if children are involved. Without a marriage contract, the question of legal rights is cloudy, at best. More to the point, however, the women in the survey seemed more concerned with making sure the relationship didn't end, and that generally requires a sign of commitment. Young men seem less concerned with this. President Bush has led an effort to lift people out of poverty by giving them incentives to get married. This study ought to reframe that debate a little. The administration's efforts were aimed at single mothers who are struggling in poverty. Instead, they ought to be aimed at young men who don't appreciate their roles as husbands and fathers. According to the Census Bureau, the number of live-in couples in the United States increased from 523,000 in 1970 to well over 4 million today. Most tend to split up after about 18 months. That's a disturbing trend. Marriage brings stability and security not only to the people involved, but to society overall. It leads to stable communities and to greater commitments toward raising the next generation. The study makes one thing clear: Anyone whose real aim is to get married should not agree to cohabitate first as some sort of compatibility trial. It nearly never works, and when it does, the divorce rate among such couples tends to be high. When couples live together outside of marriage, the women tend to grow less and less optimistic of eventually tying the knot as time goes by, the study found. Perhaps they are just realizing what they should have suspected from the start. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
