Cohabitation: A Growing Problem

By Mike McManus Cohabiting couples believe they are testing their relationships. According to research, many cohabitating couples believe that if their relationship is not strong, they will break up short of marriage, with no harm done, and that cohabitation will enhance the quality of a future marriage. Sadly, both notions are incorrect. However a growing […]

Your Marriage Belongs to Your Community of Family and Friends

By Nisa Muhammad To my dear recently wedded friend, I recently read an article on Ozy.com entitled “Divorced? Give Your Wedding Guests a Refund.” And I thought of you and your recent nuptials. After much thought, I wanted you to know that your marriage belongs not only to you and your spouse, but also your community of […]

Is Marriage Obsolete? No! It’s More Needed Than Ever

By Mike McManus Marriage is declining in America.  There were only 2,077,000 marriages in 2015 – fewer than the 2,159,000 in 1970 when the population was only 203 million.  If the same percentage were getting married today, there would have been 1.3 million more marriages last year! Sadly, a large minority of the population – […]

Why Aren’t Millennials Marrying?

By Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse Neil Clark Warren, the Internet matchmaking guru, interviewed 500 college students and found that over half of them had never observed a happy marriage. Is it any wonder that millennials are rejecting marriage in favor of serial cohabitation in record numbers? Ironically, in his numerous studies, W. Bradford Wilcox, director […]

Marry First

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 […]

Why the American Family is Falling Apart

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 […]

A Proposal To Restore Marriage In Louisiana

By Mike McManus The following is an abbreviated version of my testimony of February 5, 2013 to the Louisiana Marriage Commission. No Fault Divorce Reform I suggest that Louisiana consider two different No Fault Divorce Reform strategies. The first is based on the fact that lengthening the time before a couple can get divorced will […]

What Britnee and Her Buds Could Teach Their Elder Sisters

Written by Richard A. Panzer Let me tell you about a talented, bold and beautiful young woman named Britnee Marsh, who just entered Delaware State University (on a full academic scholarship) as a step towards her goal of entering the field of Forensic Science. Last June at an annual banquet, Britnee was crowned “Miss Free […]

Living Together: Myths, Risks & Answers

Written by Mike McManus To the Presidential candidates, America’s biggest problem is the economy. However, I believe the disintegration of marriage is the nation’s central domestic problem, costing billions of taxpayer dollars for poverty, depression, crime and suicide. This crisis has three elements: 1. The marriage rate has plunged 53 percent since 1970. Of those […]

Living Together: Myths, Risks & Answers

Written by Mike McManus To the Presidential candidates, America’s biggest problem is the economy. However, I believe the disintegration of marriage is the nation’s central domestic problem, costing billions of taxpayer dollars for poverty, depression, crime and suicide. This crisis has three elements: 1. The marriage rate has plunged 53 percent since 1970. Of those […]