Future of Marriage

Category: Future of Marriage --- See latest news here

More couples do things like dining, hobbies, friendships and having fun apart
Study: The separateness of couples' lives grows. In one of the most comprehensive studies of marriage, a team compared 2,000 married people each in 1980 and in 2000. The likelihood of couples spending lots of time together visiting friends, pursuing hobbies and dining together decreased 28%. Spouses also are less likely to have smooth relations with their partners' friends. The separateness has become so common that researchers are changing the structure of marriage-education programs. For some couples living separate lives isn't a problem: Dave Hookham says he and his wife, do fine vacationing separately sometimes and having different friends.
by wsj.com | 2008-07-08 | Alone - So Lonely: Find a Partner

Do you take this man? No thanks - marriage is no longer desirable
There is a belief that changes in marriage and family life are peculiar to the secular West and that we could reverse the decline by re-emphasising the value of marriage. Yet the problem is not lack of respect for marriage. In fact, marriage as a relationship between two individuals comes with a greater sense of personal obligation than ever, although as an institution it no longer organises social life the way it used to. And it will never do so again. Two trends have spearheaded this revolution: societies' decreasing ability to dictate personal choices and women's growing ability to support themselves.
by guardian | 2007-01-04 | Future of Marriage

Married couples outnumbered for first time
Married couples, whose numbers have been declining for decades as a proportion of American households, have slipped into a minority. 49.7% of the nation's 111.1 million households in 2005 were made up of married couples, just shy of a majority and down from more than 52% five years earlier. The numbers by no means suggest marriage is dead. Marriage has been facing more competition. A growing number of adults are spending more of their lives single or living unmarried with partners, and the potential social and economic implications are profound.
by seattletimes | 2006-10-21 | Future of Marriage

Marriage - Comments by younger generation
As teenagers talk about of marriage, their comments reveal a dreary view of the institution. "I'm not looking forward to marriage," says Nakeeda Burns, "and I don't think we [people in general] should be married, because I see how other marriages ended up in my family. It's always a disaster." Even the married couples these teens know don't seem happy. "All of my friends who are married, they tell me not to get married," says Anderson Felix. Anita Marshall blurts out, "I want a big wedding if I get married," but she doesn't think she'll make it to the altar. Her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother were married; now they're all divorced.
by boston | 2006-08-10 | Marriage & Wedlock

Births out of wedlock 'pass 40%'
The proportion of children born outside marriage in the UK has leapt from 12% in 1980 to 42% in 2004. In contrast, 15 other EU countries had an estimated average of 33%. The average UK household size fell from 2.9 to 2.4 people from 1971 to 2005. This was due to more single-parent families, smaller families and an increase in households of just one person. Although most children are born to married couples, this substantial rise in births outside marriage is a reflection of the rising trend in cohabiting parents. From 1986 to 2004, the percentage of non-married people under 60 who cohabited rose from 11% to 24% among men, and from 13% to 25% for women.
by bbc | 2006-02-22 | Relationship Trends

Chinese hire private eyes before marriage
The Chinese are increasingly turning to private detectives to check out prospective spouses before they tie the knot. China Daily reports that in some cases parents are the ones who want to make sure that their children will not get any nasty surprises after marriage. "Those parents just hope to see their children make the right choices." The detectives check available financial records, shadow targets and sometimes try to socialize with their friends to find out how others view them.
by upi | 2006-01-08 | Relationship Trends

Study shows generation dating earlier, marrying older
Students are now dating earlier than our parents did. They are more comfortable and experienced with the opposite sex today. In today's society, people are getting married at a later age than their parents might have. When our parents went to college, it was for work and marriage. Now people are going to college and putting their career first.
by DailyVidette | 2005-11-16 | Relationship Trends

Cohabiting couples are less likely to marry
Staying together before legally formalising a relationship seems trendy and convenient these days but is a very risky thing to pursue. It does not matter whether the man initiates the idea. Many women are deceived into thinking that when a man asks them to move in, it is a strong indication that he loves them a lot.
by researchnews | 2005-10-27 | Relationship Trends

More couples say yes to sharing homes, no to marriage: Is that a problem?
It's occurring because they don't want the kind of permanent plunge they believe marriage represents. They think that by trying out cohabitation, perhaps they will decide to marry. But for many couples, living together creates the opposite effect. What often happens is once you are cohabiting, it's comfortable and there isn't much incentive to get married.
by Detroit News | 2005-10-04 | Relationship Trends

News for Two is a review of hand-picked news and articles related to marriage-relationship troubles & problems providing self-help tips and advices.