In Praise of the Tenacity of Marriage

By Jennifer Grant At the small, religious college I attended, some girls joked that they were there to earn a “Mrs.” degree. I steered clear of them; their preoccupation with finding husbands seemed not only ridiculous but also pathetic to me. And I had plans. After college, I’d go to grad school, write a novel, […]

Children Are Hurt by Marriage Failure

By Mike McManus We all know that half of America’s marriages fail – and have for decades.  What’s less well known is that America’s marriage rate has plunged in half and unwed births soared 8-fold. Who is most wounded by divorce and non-marriage? Children – innocent victims of their parents’ selfishness.   Only 46% of American […]

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 […]

My Affair Just Happened. . .

By Michele Weiner-Davis I’ve been a therapist for a very long time. I’ve encountered people from all walks of life with varied viewpoints, personalities, strengths and idiosyncratic quirks. I’m never bored, rarely shocked and almost never irritated. But the operative word here is “almost.” I have lost count of the number of times when a spouse who’s been […]

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 – […]

The Joy of Love

By Dr. Hilary Towers Last week Pope Francis released his eagerly-awaited synthesis of the work that took place during the 2014 and 2015 synods on marriage and the family. The conclusions reached by Francis and the synod fathers in the lengthy document entitled, Amoris Laetitia, (Latin for “The Joy of Love”), have caused much discussion […]

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 […]

Time of Divorce Affects Well-being of Children

By Lori Lowe Many people talk of the “good divorce” and imagine resilient children who go on to have strong relationships with both parents following a family breakdown. That’s not what the research shows generally happens. Instead, when children experience parental divorce, they are more likely to have insecure relationships with their parents once they […]

Kids, Your Mom Wants a Divorce!

By Michele Weiner-Davis No one, especially not parents, takes the decision to divorce lightly. Most people flounder in their marriages for long periods of time and question themselves endlessly before throwing in the towel. The last thing parents want to do is to hurt their children. That’s why when it comes time to break the […]

How To Fix No-Fault Divorce

By Mike McManus In the old days, if a spouse wanted a divorce, there had to be proof that a partner was guilty of a major fault – adultery, abandonment, or physical abuse. Marriage was considered a sacred contract agreed to by the man and woman before God and witnesses. Then in 1969 California Gov. […]