INFLATION AND SELFISHNESS PREVENT MARRIAGE

7 reasons marriage is falling apart in America

http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2013/04/06/7-reasons-marriage-is-falling-apart-in-america-n1559772/page/full/

Townhall – John Hawkins – 4/6/2013

According to the Index of Leading Cultural Indicators, children from single-parent families account for 63 percent of all youth suicides, 70 percent of all teenage pregnancies, 71 percent of all adolescent chemical/substance abuse, 80 percent of all prison inmates, and 90 percent of all homeless and runaway children.

A study cited in the Village Voice produced similar numbers. It found that children brought up in single-mother homes “are five times more likely to commit suicide, nine times more likely to drop out of high school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, 14 times more likely to commit rape (for the boys), 20 times more likely to end up in prison, and 32 times more likely to run away from home.”

Why are there so many people who are reluctant to get married?

1) THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION: There have always been people who've had sex outside of marriage, but there was a time when that was widely considered shameful.

Fifty nine percent of people polled at MSN Dating said they would have sex within the first three dates and less than 7% said they would wait until marriage.

2) THE INABILITY OF MANY POOR MEN TO SUPPORT A FAMILY: As automation and technology have replaced some jobs and others have moved overseas to workers in China and India, the economic prospects for many men in this group have plunged. What that means as a practical matter is that a lot of men who would have been married and providing for a family in a previous era are now single and can barely afford to take care of themselves.

3) A "MARRYING UP" GAP

4) NO FAULT DIVORCE: "no fault" divorce bill made divorce much easier to get, spreading across the country. As a result, between 1960 and 1980, the divorce rate in America more than doubled. The more divorces there are, the less attractive marriage becomes because it increases the risk factor. "No fault" or not, divorce is usually a devastating process for everyone involved

5) INCREASED ECONOMIC OPTIONS FOR WOMEN  Women on the low end of the pay scale can have the government step in to pay many of their bills. Women with college degrees or in demand skills can make just as much as a man if they're willing to put in the same hours. Those additional economic options make marriage -- and staying in a difficult marriage -- less attractive to women.

6) MARRIAGE HAS BECOME A MUCH LESS ATTRACTIVE OPTION FOR MEN: Now, men are often treated more like partners than kings. Almost every man knows a guy who has had access to his child used as a bargaining chip, who has to pay Draconian child support payments or who has otherwise been generally treated unfairly because of his gender, not the merits.

7) CHILDREN HAVE BECOME MORE OF AN ECONOMIC HINDRANCE THAN A HELP: There was a time when having children was essentially an insurance policy. If you became disabled or too old to work, your kids took care of you. Today, the government fulfills that role. Additionally, the cost of raising a child has skyrocketed. You'll now have to take $235,000 out of your wallet to raise a kid to 17 -- and that doesn't even include college costs.

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