Marriage? Why Bother?
With the sky-high U.S. divorce rates, many people are asking Why get married? Well, Divorce360.com is reporting on a new study out of the Pew Research Center—and the results are surprising.
"On the list of nine things that make up a successful marriage, having children was ranked as eighth in importance. The numbers in 2007 had declined from two thirds in 1990 who considered having children as important to marriage --- ranking it third in importance on the nine-point list."Here's their complete top, um, nine list (clearly I'm missing one... please let me know if you can find it!):
- Faithfulness
- Sexual compatibility
- Sharing chores
- Adequate income
- Good housing
- Shared religious beliefs
- Shared tastes and interests
- Having children
- Agreement on politics
Good housing? And honestly I'm at a loss as to why having children is a sign of a successful marriage, it's just procreation--monkeys can do it for pete's sake. LOL
And who does a top 9 list? Have they never seen Letterman??? lol
Really? who does 9??
I think it's nuts that having children ranks the list since there are tons of wonderfully successful marriages out there that are happily child-free.
They're not saying "these are the reasons marriages are successful." They're saying "these are the reasons people get married in the first place."
Why does one have to be married to have a "successful" relationship? A couple can share all of those things on that list without the marriage license.
I would also add "a sense of humor" to that list. :-)
They absolutely can, Laurie--I agree. This one study just happened to be about marriage specifically.