By Sage Erickson Picture a third world country: desperate poverty, a daily struggle to survive, widespread suffering, minimal sanitation, and diminished economic opportunities. Now picture the United States. Although the United States has long been known as a first-world country politically and economically, has it become a third world country when it comes to romantic […]
Shoring Up Stepfamilies
September 24, 2014 Leave a Comment
By Mike McManus Perhaps half of all marriages involve one partner who was previously married. If children are involved, 70% of stepfamilies will divorce, putting everyone through another trauma. However, four of five of these marriages can be saved. Why do so many of these marriages fail? “Putting together or integrating a stepfamily is one […]
Move Over First Families: Stepfamilies Are the New Game in Town
September 17, 2014 Leave a Comment
By Beverly Willett A few days ago, Honey Maid, the maker of a wide variety of well-known graham cracker products including the honey-flavored Teddy Grahams I once served my own children, unleashed the second installment in its “This is Wholesome” campaign.[1] The campaign, which is accompanied by two videos, celebrates stepfamilies, and was scheduled to coincide […]
Is “Married At First Sight” A Recipe for Happily Ever After?
September 16, 2014 Leave a Comment
By Seth Eisenberg The new American television series “Married At First Sight” follows six people as they discover if married at first sight can last. Personally, I know love at first sight can last. A lasting, happy marriage, however, is about much more than the feelings that come up at the first sight of a potential partner for life. My […]
Note to Millennials — It’s Not All About You
September 8, 2014 1 Comment
By Chris Gersten “Isn’t testing a marriage, like we test a username, simply-well, logical” journalist Jessica Bennett asks in a recent article for Time entitled “The Beta Marriage: How Millennials Approach ‘I Do.’” For Bennett, the answer to this question seems obvious: If the institution of marriage is in trouble in our country, let’s take […]
“Beta Marriage” Isn’t a Better Marriage
September 5, 2014 Leave a Comment
By Greg Griffin I’m intrigued by the recent article in Time Magazine suggesting that millennials try out a “beta marriage” model instead of marriage as we have understood it through the ages. Like many of us, millennials too see life as a series of multiple choice options, all within their control. Frankly, they also view […]
Marry First
July 7, 2014 Leave a Comment
By Julie Baumgardner Remember the rhyme, “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage”? Not so anymore. Over the past decade there has been a shift in the sequence of marriage and having babies. New research indicates 57 percent of mothers between the age of 26 and 31 are unmarried when […]
An Unspoken Fact About Sex-Starved Marriages
May 9, 2014 Leave a Comment
By Michele-Weiner Davis Do (or did) you and your spouse have a sexual desire gap? If so, you are not alone. Did you know that 1 in 3 couples have completely different levels of interest in sex? But just because you aren’t alone, it doesn’t mean you should be complacent about a ho-hum sexual relationship. You shouldn’t. […]
Why the American Family is Falling Apart
April 23, 2014 3 Comments
By Mike McManus The American family is falling apart. Consider two grim trends. The U.S. marriage rate has plunged 57% since 1970, according to “The State of Our Unions” for 2012. Two-thirds of Americans over age 15 used to be married. Now it is only 48%. The unwed birth rate was only 5% in 1960 […]
Conscious Uncoupling: Another View
April 2, 2014 Leave a Comment
By Seth Eisenberg I have to admit, I became “consciously uncoupled” long before Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin created a national conversation about the phrase. My parents became consciously uncoupled before my fourth birthday. I admit this as someone proud to consider myself among the most passionate proponents of marriage. When TIME Magazine interviewed me a few years ago about […]
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