Marriage Keeps People Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise

Healthy marriages are on the decline. The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families quoted Dr. David Popenoe, “between 1960 and 2004 the number of unmarried couples in America increased by nearly 1200 percent.”

Although the Women’s Rights Movement led to voting rights and equal pay for equal work for women, the modern feminist agenda has a negative effect on marriages. Today, 43% of Americans are unmarried and single. Fewer marriages and more divorces ring warning bells, especially since research indicates that married people are happier, wealthier, and safer.

The feminist agenda says that marriage oppresses women and makes them unhappy. Marlene Dixon, a University of Chicago sociology professor, declared: "The institution of marriage is the chief vehicle for the perpetuation of the oppression of women.” The Pew Research Center research found that married people are twice as happy as single people. Together, these two pieces of information say that there are a lot more happy “oppressed” people than happy “free” people. Based on those percentages, if you’re married, you are two times as likely to be happy.

Married people also are wealthier than single people. Bridget Maher, a family policy analyst, found that married-couple families make three times as much as single parents. The cost of living for married people is only 1.5 times as much as that of singles. Not only does marriage benefit adults financially, but it also profits children.

“Children raised by never-married mothers are seven times more likely to live in poverty than children raised by their biological parents in intact marriages,” says the Heritage Foundation. Poverty and welfare could be reduced if more Americans married.

The feminist agenda focuses on fighting domestic violence. The National Organization for Women (NOW) devotes an entire section on their website to violence against women. Ironically, while feminism portrays marriage as an oppressive institution, they are undercutting the very institution that keeps women and children safe. The Heritage Foundation said that domestic abuse is twice as high for women who have never been married. Children are also at increased risk in unmarried households.

Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., commented on a British study saying, “Children are safest living with their natural parents, married to each other, next safest living with their mother and her new husband, next safest living with their natural mother alone, still less safe with two natural parents cohabiting and the least safe with their mother and a cohabiting, but unrelated boyfriend.” The marriage commitment helps keep women and children twice as safe as other unstable relationships such as cohabitation.

Not only do married couples have more joy, a higher income, and greater safety, but they also are healthier, less likely to have children who commit crimes, and more likely to have their children go to college. Although not all marriages are happy, wealthy, and safe, statistics favor marriage over singleness. If feminists really want to fight depression, poverty, and domestic abuse like they claim, they should get married.