In recent decades, marriage has been weakened by a revisionist view of marriage that is more about adults’ desires than children’s needs. This view reduces marriage primarily to emotional bonds or legal privileges. Redefining marriage represents the culmination of this revisionism and would leave emotional intensity as the only thing that sets marriage apart from other bonds. Meanwhile, recent studies using rigorous methods and robust samples confirm that children do better when raised by a married mother and father. These include the New Family Structures Study by Professor Mark Regnerus at the University of Texas–Austin [17] and a report based on Census data recently released in the highly respected journal Demography. [18] Promoting marriage does not ban any type of relationship: Adults are free to make choices about their relationships, and they do not need government sanction or license to do so. All Americans have the freedom to live as they choose, but no one has a right to redefine marriage for everyone else.

The marriage effect: Money or parenting? | Brookings

Happily married couples generally don’t have as many insecurities about aging as unmarried people do. People in happy relationships know that their partners love and care for them, even if they don’t remain as attractive as they once were. Government can treat people equally—and leave them free to live and love as they choose—without redefining marriage. Bersani, B. E., Laub, J. H., & Nieuwbeerta, P. (2009). Marriage and desistance from crime in the Netherlands: do gender and socio-historical context matter? Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 25, 3–24. This is not hypothetical. In 2009, Newsweek reported that there were over 500,000 polyamorous households in America. [25] Prominent scholars and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) activists have called for “marriage equality” for multipartner relationships since at least 2006. [26] Healthier people in marriages may have a better chance of having a successful marriage. [5] A healthier person may be more appealing to their partner. For example, having a higher income could improve the health care individuals receive or lowers stress. In certain marriages, a spouse may help in monitoring and encouraging healthy behaviors; as well as discouraging unhealthy habits. Marriage may provide an emotional fulfilling relationship. Which would satisfy the need for a social connection. Marriage is able to reduce depressive symptoms for both men and women. As marriage is able to reduce them, divorce is able to increase them. [5] Marriage can also be associated with less healthier behaviors. For example, alcohol consumption, drug use, cigarette smoking, diet, and exercise. [5] Same-sex marriage [ edit ]Redefining marriage would diminish the social pressures and incentives for husbands to remain with their wives and biological children and for men and women to marry before having children. Yet the resulting arrangements—parenting by single parents, divorced parents, remarried parents, cohabiting couples, and fragmented families of any kind—are demonstrably worse for children. [27] Redefining marriage would destabilize marriage in ways that are known to hurt children. Bersani, B., & DiPietro, S. M. (2013). An examination of the “marriage effect” on desistance from crime among US immigrants. D.C.: Washington. Redefining marriage does not simply expand the existing understanding of marriage. It rejects the anthropological truth that marriage is based on the complementarity of man and woman, the biological fact that reproduction depends on a man and a woman, and the social reality that children need a mother and a father. Redefining marriage to abandon the norm of male–female sexual complementarity would also make other essential characteristics—such as monogamy, exclusivity, and permanency—optional. Marriage cannot do the work that society needs it to do if these norms are further weakened. Rachael Pace is a noted relationship writer associated with Marriage.com. She provides inspiration, support, and empowerment in the form of motivational articles and essays. Rachael enjoys studying the evolution of loving partnerships Read more and is passionate about writing on them. She believes that everyone should make room for love in their lives and encourages couples to work on overcoming their challenges together.

Crime and the Transition to Marriage | The British Journal of Crime and the Transition to Marriage | The British Journal of

a b c Wight, Richard G.; LeBlanc, Allen J.; Lee Badgett, M. V. (February 2013). "Same-Sex Legal Marriage and Psychological Well-Being: Findings From the California Health Interview Survey". American Journal of Public Health. 103 (2): 339–346. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.301113. PMC 3558785. PMID 23237155.Williams, R. T. (2012). Using robust standard errors to combine multiple regression estimates with meta-analysis. Loyola University Chicago. The Catholic bishop of Springfield, Illinois, explains how a bill, which was offered in that state’s 2013 legislative session, to redefine marriage while claiming to protect religious liberty was unable to offer meaningful protections: [It] would not stop the state from obligating the Knights of Columbus to make their halls available for same-sex “weddings.” It would not stop the state from requiring Catholic grade schools to hire teachers who are legally “married” to someone of the same sex. This bill would not protect Catholic hospitals, charities, or colleges, which exclude those so “married” from senior leadership positions…. This “religious freedom” law does nothing at all to protect the consciences of people in business, or who work for the government. We saw the harmful consequences of deceptive titles all too painfully last year when the so-called “Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act” forced Catholic Charities out of foster care and adoption services in Illinois. [54] What does the work are the social reality of marriage and the intelligibility of its norms. These help to channel behavior. Law affects culture. Culture affects beliefs. Beliefs affect actions. The law teaches, and it will shape not just a handful of marriages, but the public understanding of what marriage is. Staff, J, Schulenberg, J. E., Maslowsky, J., Bachman, J. G., O'Malley, P. M., Maggs, J. L., & Johnston, L. D. (2010). Substance use changes and social role transitions: proximal developmental effects on ongoing trajectories from late adolescence through early adulthood. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 917.