ABSTRACT
In many nations, almost half of marriages end in divorce, and cohabitation, as a precursor or alternative to marriage, has become mainstream. Except in Asia, the proportion of children born outside of marriage has also skyrocketed. Marriage is also associated with personal and public benefits. Most significantly, marriage is, everywhere, more stable than cohabitation, and unstable relationships are associated with a serious economic and social risks to children. Formal marriage has long been associated with a range of health, wealth and happiness benefits to marriage partners. Marriage advocates, particularly in the United States, have urged a diverse array of marriage-promotion initiatives, including divorce reform, the elimination of marriage ‘penalties’, and various initiatives to reduce marital conflict. Government policies aimed at ensuring that families can adequately provide for their children, educationally, emotionally and economically, are thus best calculated to promote family stability and child well-being in a range of dimensions.
