This is one way to stop divorce

Divorce is never okay, especially when it’s not even your wife, “KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - An Indian man who took an impersonator to court to get a divorce faces legal action after his real wife found out, lawyers said Friday.” Read more here.

What will it take to keep America strong?

A highly functioning and healthy society is made up of marriages that, first and foremost, have a loving relationship with God.   Read more

Congratulations! You’ve made it to your 30th anniversary!

Well you’ve done it! You made it to your 30th wedding anniversary and to celebrate this incredible occasion we thought you would like to remember all the things you did to ensure a long and happy marriage. Read more

I hate him so much.com: an interesting site for helping couples

This is one way to tackle the divorce problem here in the America.  Check out IHateHimSoMuch.com and discover what they are encouraging you to do to help your marriage: Read more

The cost of the Iraq war as compared to divorce and unwed child-bearing

I keep reading different people’s thoughts on how much America has spent on the Iraq war.  But recently is was announced that over the same amount of time (the last five years) we (the taxpayers of America) have actually spent more money because of divorce and unwed child-bearing.

I can promise you that there will be far more consequences of ignoring the war on families right here in America than focusing on the cost of the Iraq war.

Why adultery is a horrible idea

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I recently discovered an article on the top 10 reasons not to commit adultery.  The ideas are good but they are missing one very critical reason, God said not to.  But what I like about the 10 reasons is that they affirm why God said not to commit adultery; they outline many of the consequences of divorce.

The article ended with an astounding statistic:

95% of all marriages that begin as adultery end in divorce.

If that doesn’t convince you of the utter foolishness of adultery, then I’m not sure what will.

If you marriage is hurting from the effects of adultery, then please fill out the following form and attend one of our Marriage Restoration Intensives.

Divorce accepted

In the face of the overwhelming negative effects of divorce, I can not believe this is true! There is an educational problem in America about divorce. So I’m giving you a special download that summarizes the effects of divorce. You can download the files (PDF) by clicking Why Marriage Matters and Why Marriage Matters to Children.

A record 70% of Americans believe divorce is morally acceptable (up 59% from ‘00), finds Gallup’s ‘08 Values and Beliefs Survey. Of the poll’s 16 ethical issues rated for moral acceptability, divorce was #1, followed by gambling, embryonic stem-cell research, homosexuality and abortion. Extramarital affairs (often a cause of divorce) are at the bottom of the list, with just 7% of Americans finding them morally acceptable.

Perspective: ‘Marriage and Divorce’

I found this little gem of a blog post from my trusted Google article search, you’ll want to check it out:

Dustin and I have been married now 11 years. They have not all been wonderful years. But every year has had wonderful in them. We were pretty young when we married, I was 22 and he was 21. We were both pretty dumb when it came to marriage. We were head over heels in love, or infactuation, lol. We were floating on a cloud as we entered marriage. Real life had yet to really hit us.

Read more here.

Cohabitation just doesn’t work

In a recent interview, Michael McManus shares why cohabitation hurts a future marriage:

Taking the life of cohabitation for a test drive before committing to a marriage has become enormously popular. And yet, with the failure of so many cohabiting relationships, and the swollen divorce rates of couples who cohabit before marriage, such a widespread cultural practice deserves critical examination. Michael McManus, coauthor of Living Together: Myths, Risks & Answers, and President of Marriage Savers, a nonprofit organization, discuss the deleterious effects of cohabitation in an interview with National Review Online editor Kathryn Lopez.

 

Kathryn Jean Lopez: What’s so bad about living together?

 

Michael McManus: Couples who live together are gambling and losing in 85 percent of the cases. Many believe the myth that they are in a “trial marriage.” Actually it is more like a “trial divorce,” in which more than eight out of ten couples will break up either before the wedding or afterwards in divorce. First, about 45 percent of those who begin cohabiting, do not marry. Those who undergo “premarital divorce” often discover it is as painful as the real thing. Another 5-10 percent continue living together and do not marry. These two trends are the major reason the marriage rate has plunged 50 percent since 1970. Couples who cohabit are likely to find that it is a paultry substitute for the real thing, marriage.

Read the full article here.

Marriage Breakdown Costs Taxpayers at Least $112 Billion a Year

First-Time Research Reveals Staggering Annual Taxpayer Costs for Divorce and Unwed Childbearing

WASH. D.C.  In first-ever research, a new report quantifies a minimum $112 billion annual taxpayer cost from high rates of divorce and unmarried childbearing. It identifies national, state and local costs which account for more than $1 trillion in the last decade.  This landmark scholarly study, entitled “The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and All 50 States,” was released on April 15th at the National Press Club by four renowned policy and research groups—Institute for American Values, Georgia Family Council, Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, and Families Northwest.

“This study documents for the first time, that divorce and unwed childbearing—besides being bad for children—are also costing taxpayers a ton of money,” said David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values.  “Even a small improvement in the health of marriage in America would result in enormous savings to taxpayers,” he continued. “For example, a 1 percent reduction in rates of family fragmentation would save taxpayers $1.1 billion.”

“These costs are due to increased taxpayer expenditures for anti-poverty, criminal justice and education programs, and through lower levels of taxes paid by individuals whose adult productivity has been negatively affected by increased childhood poverty caused by family fragmentation,” said principal investigator Ben Scafidi, Ph.D., economics professor at Georgia College & State University.

“Prior research shows that marriage lifts single mothers out of poverty and therefore reduces the need for costly social benefits,” said Scafidi. “This new report shows that public concern about the decline of marriage need not be based only on ‘moral’ concerns, but that reducing high taxpayer costs of family fragmentation is a legitimate concern of government, policymakers and legislators, as well as community reformers and faith communities.”

“This report now provides the basis for a national consensus that strengthening marriage is a legitimate policy concern,” said Blankenhorn. “The report’s numbers represent an extremely cautious estimate, a lower-bound figure, and have been vetted by a group of distinguished scholars and economists who have attached their names as advisors to this report.”

“These numbers represent real people and real suffering,” said Randy Hicks, president of Georgia Family Council. “Both economic and human costs make family fragmentation a legitimate public concern. Historically, Americans have resisted the impulse to surrender to negative and hurtful trends. We fight problems like racism, poverty and domestic violence because we understand that the stakes are high. And while we’ll never eliminate divorce and unwed childbearing entirely, we can certainly be doing more to help marriages and families succeed.”

The full report, press kit, and video of the press conference at the National Press Club are available at www.americanvalues.org.

What does divorce and unwed childbearing cost?

$112 billion dollars annually! That is over a trillion dollars a decade!  To understand this number, currently one of the biggest debates on Capital Hill is the amount of money the Iraq war has cost American taxpayers over the last five years, which is just over $500 billion.  Divorce and unwed childbearing has cost roughly $80 billion more in the same amount of time!