Is marriage going extinct? We\u2019ll talk some data, and some conservation strategies.<\/p>\n
Marriage in America is in trouble. Now this isn\u2019t the first time you\u2019ve heard Eric and me say this on BreakPoint, but new data from Pew Research shows that barely half of adults in the U.S. are married. That\u2019s an all-time low. And if this trend continues, singles will soon make up the majority of the adult U.S. opulation.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, the median age of first marriage for both men and women is higher than ever before. In other words, by the time the shrinking cohort who do decide to become brides and grooms reach the altar, they\u2019re already flirting with 30.<\/p>\n
All of this coincides with record numbers of out-of-wedlock births, prompting the obvious question \u2014 what kind of relationships are couples choosing instead of marriage? Well for the most part, says Pew, it\u2019s cohabitation and single-parent homes. Marriage is no longer the default family unit. It\u2019s one of many options, and according to Pew, millennials are phasing out matrimony at an accelerated rate.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s another asteroid on the horizon.<\/p>\n
The National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia has also kept its finger on the pulse of marriage in America for decades. The group\u2019s most recent findings indicate that the sexual free-for-all that\u2019s making marriage obsolete is also eroding what\u2019s left of the institution among those who do say \u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a study entitled \u201cWhat Happens in Vegas Doesn\u2019t Always Stay in Vegas,\u201d the project found that the way couples \u201cconduct their romantic lives before they tie the knot is linked to their odds of having happy marriages\u201d afterwards. Researchers Scott Stanley and Galena Rhoades report that about 90 percent of couples today have sex before marriage. But those who only sleep with their future spouse have higher marriage stability than those who sleep around prior to their wedding day.<\/p>\n
The problem is that only 23 percent of those having premarital sex stick with one partner. So it turns out that even if you plan on getting married, how you live single life impacts your future marriage profoundly.<\/p>\n
So what can we do to reverse the decline of marriage?<\/p>\n
Well, one way is by identifying why successful marriages are successful. According to researchers at Emory University, one of the best predictors of marital success across the board is intentionality.<\/p>\n
Couples who \u201cslide\u201d into cohabitation without deliberation or planning tend to fare poorly in an eventual marriage; but those who consciously commit to engagement and a wedding date do better.<\/p>\n
Another predictor of a happy marriage, agree the Pew and Emory studies, is the emphasis couples place on external trappings. The bigger the diamond and more elaborate the wedding, they say, the more likely the couple is to eventually divorce.<\/p>\n
And, the data also shows that those who regularly attend religious services divorce far less frequently than the general population. But, the highest rate of broken marriages happens among occasional church attenders.So get serious about the church.<\/p>\n
Of course, this data makes sense from a Christian perspective. Marriages don\u2019t just involve two people getting hitched. They involve families and civic and faith communities.<\/p>\n
And so entering marriage intentionally \u2014 understanding and preparing for the peaks and valleys of married life, seeking the support of family and friends, committing to keep the promises made on that day \u2014 makes all the difference.<\/p>\n
So how is your church doing? Is it supporting married couples and helping to prepare engaged couples for a life-long union? Find out. And maybe volunteer for your church\u2019s marriage ministry.<\/p>\n
And, how is it handling the single population? This sexually aggressive, delaying marriage culture is especially hard on a growing population in our church \u2014 those who want to be married but aren\u2019t. Often the church lacks a plan on how to support these singles, while including them with their giftedness and contributions to the body of Christ.<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
Copyright (c) 2014 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. “BreakPoint” is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Is marriage going extinct? We\u2019ll talk some data, and some conservation strategies. Marriage in America is in trouble. Now this isn\u2019t the first time you\u2019ve heard Eric and me say this on BreakPoint, but new data from Pew Research shows that barely half of adults in the U.S. are married. That\u2019s an all-time low. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[802,26,68,799,593],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5505"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}