The Importance of Marriage in a Throwaway Society as It Effects Children

As I was reading some material about marriage and divorce, I was saddened by the state of society's views on divorce, births to unwed mothers, and cohabitation (living together) and their effects on children. Many people believe that the children involved are not affected. Some startling statistics said otherwise. Children are being thrown away in favor of the parent’s wants. It is hard to measure the effects that divorce or cohabitation has on children because other factors can play a part in the behaviors mentioned. One chart from Paul R. Amato in The Future of Children, 15(2), 75-96 shows the reduction in certain behaviors if family structures had continued the same as a certain point in time.

When reading the chart, you can see that almost 40% of one-parent adolescents had been suspended from school. Compare that with the 1960’s 25.4% but not with a percentage number. Convert those percentages to real numbers. I do not know what the population of adolescents was in 1995 but a drop of 15% has to represent a huge number of children that could have lived a little better life. When looking at the difference just between a two parent home and a one parent home in columns 1 and 2, the children that have needed therapy more than doubles. When looking at this chart, how can people say that marriage does not matter?

These children often suffer from poverty, abuse, and subpar parenting. Amato said:

Specifically, compared with children who grow up in stable, two parent families, children born outside marriage reach adulthood with  less  education, earn less income, have lower occupational status, are more likely to be idle (that is, not employed and not in school),  are  more likely to have a nonmarital birth (among  daughters), have more troubled marriages, experience higher rates of divorce, and report more symptoms  of depression.

Does this sound like our children are not harmed by anything less than a two parent household? 

Amato also addressed the difference between a single parent home when divorce or an ended cohabitation was the cause versus when death is the cause. It was very interesting that those children exhibited problems in some areas but they are stronger in others.

The old playground song had it right: “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Sally with a baby carriage.”

Here's some marriage advice from Dallin H Oaks.

After completing these articles this week, my feelings about marriage have been reinforced. Our nation’s children need our protection and our guidance to become better citizens than they are projected to be.