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Marriage is Good for Us

December 4, 2012



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The left-wing, so called "Progressives", proclaim that the traditional family -- married man & woman and children -- is no longer necessary. Ironically, the poor, whom the Left pretend to champion, are most vulnerable to the breakdown of this model, and suffer the most.  



"Sociological, psychological and medical research indicates that married couples tend to do better in every important measure of physical, social and psychological well-being, compared to the unmarried. "



by REALITY 
December Edition, Publication of  Real Women of Canada 
(Edited by henrymakow.com)



Traditional marriage is critical to society's well-being. 


1.MARRIAGE BREAKDOWN AND POVERTY

Marriage breakdown is the greatest cause of poverty in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, the quickest way for children to live in poverty is for their parents to be separated, divorced, or never married.

This is because one-parent families have the lowest average total income. 

For example, in 2008, female, one- parent families had an average annual income of only $42,300. This meant that, in 2008, 36% of children under 18 years of age, (about 218,000 children) lived in low-income families headed by a woman. In contrast, in 2008, two-parent families had an average annual income of $100,200.

According to the US Brookings Institution, if individuals do just three things: 

1) finish high school; 

2) work full time; and 

3) marry before they have children - their chances of being poor drop from 15% to 2%.

Research by the UK Centre for Social Justice indicates that if a child is born into poverty today, that child is more likely to remain in poverty than at any time since the late 1960s. 

The Centre identified five key paths to poverty. The first is family breakdown. The others were: serious personal debt, drug and alcohol addiction, failed education, unemployment and dependency.


WELL-TO-DO VIEW MARRIAGE DIFFERENTLY 

There appears to be a growing gap between educated, married, employed and well-off couples and those who are less educated, in marginal or no employment and without a steady life partner. 

This was outlined in an article in the Journal of Public Policy,"The Family in America" (Spring 2012).

According to Dr. Bryce J. Christensen, the Editor of the Journal, there is a retreat in the US (and Canada) from wedlock by the nation's poor and working class citizens.

This has resulted in couples who have neither money nor education, having trouble keeping their marriages together. 

This differs markedly from privileged, educated couples who generally regard unwed parenthood, desertion and divorce as socially unacceptable. 

As a result, their marriages are more stable. The brunt of family breakdown occurs in the poorer working classes who have lower standards on marriage, single parenthood, and living common-law. These attitudes all contribute to their poverty.


MARRIAGE LEADS TO LOWER MORTALITY 


Sociological, psychological and medical research indicates that married couples tend to do better in every important measure of physical, social and psychological well-being, compared to the unmarried. 

Significantly, this health and mortality gap has remained constant over the past two decades. The reason can be attributed to the protective quality of marriage, which influences and directs the behaviour of the partners.

Essentially, this involves couples individually monitoring unhealthy lifestyles, such as smoking, physical inactivity, harmful eating habits and reminding each other of regular medical needs, such as medical check-ups and  medication, etc. 

Family members encourage other members to change their harmful behaviours. Unfortunately, those who merely cohabit together are less likely to be concerned with their partner's habits and behaviour. 


ENCOURAGING MARRIAGE


There are a number of specific policy recommendations that would support marriage:

1. Although schools seem to relish teaching sex education to the students, they rarely, if ever, provide education on the importance of marriage and good parenting. Pre-marriage education should be included in all school programs.

2. Many people later regret their divorce and wish that something more could have been done to save their marriage. (Second marriages have an even higher attrition rate).

It is essential to provide counselling services to couples who wish to pursue reconciliation in their marriage. REAL Women of Canada has long advocated tax-deductible counselling for troubled marriages. 

If such assistance is tax-deductible, it becomes financially more manageable for couples, and also becomes more "respectable" since it is a recognized tax deduction. In the case of low-income couples, such counselling should be subsidized. 




Scruples - the game of moral dillemas

Comments for "Marriage is Good for Us "

Tony Blizzard said (December 15, 2012):

Henry, this article seems to be a lot of "ring around the rosy" symptoms as causes. I see two real causes.

1. The bogus medium of exchange as private debt owed to the already filthy rich which is THE cause of pauperization world wide.

2. The crash of right morality due largely to intended mis-education (which promotes feminism, etc. as well as a lack of critical thinking) plus the false money as a close second in this cause also.

Tony B.


How a society defines money determines who controls it. Define money as wealth and the wealthy will control it. Define it as credit, as is done today, and the "lenders" will be in control, as they are. Define it as Aristotle did - an abstract legal power - and government can control it to promote the general welfare. . . historical case studies show much better results from publicly controlled money systems than privately controlled ones. See the Lost Science of Money book by Stephen Zarlenga, American Monetary Institute (AMI). www.monetary.org


Richard said (December 15, 2012):

For thousands of years poor people lived as clans. I see single mothers and even poor couples held in poverty by day care expenses eating into meager paychecks. It's not feminism alone that broken the clan system. Migration due to economic displacement is the major factor for the demolition of Mexican extended family bonding.

There have been several diaspora breaking down the clan system of one peasant culture after another and now it's happening to Mexican families that try to live in the United States. This week one of the poor who called the church for help is a woman with four children. Her husband fled back to Mexico, abandoning when she lost her job due to pregnancy nearing term.


Henry Makow received his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Toronto in 1982. He welcomes your comments at