162 Reasons to Marry

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162 Reasons to Marry

Pat Fagan, Anne Dougherty, and Miriam McElvain

February 8, 2012

Introduction

Marriage is the foundational relationship for all of society. All other relationships in society stem from the father-mother relationship, and these other relationships thrive most if that father-mother relationship is simultaneously a close and a closed husband-wife relationship. Good marriages are the bedrock of strong societies, for they are the foundations of strong families. One can see this strength manifested at the national and state level, as indicated in other works of the authors, such as the Index of Family Belonging and Rejection and its relationship to various outcomes.[1]

The future of the human race and all its component societies is embodied in each newborn. Whether that newborn grows to be a strong, capable adult depends much on the marriage of his parents. Whether he is physically strong; whether she is intelligent; whether he is hardworking or a dropout; whether she will be mentally healthy and happy; whether he will be more educated; whether she will marry in her own turn; whether he will be a taxpayer or a drain on the commons; whether she enjoys her own sexuality to the full; whether he worships and prays; whether she has children and how many; whether he finishes high school and goes to college or learns a trade; whether she is law-abiding; whether he grows old with a family surrounding him-all these most desirable outcomes (common goods) are strongly connected to the strength of the marriage of that child's parents.

The findings herein demonstrate that in marriage are contained all the five basic institutions, all the basic tasks, of society: family, church, school, marketplace and government. These fundamental tasks, well done, in unity between father and mother, make for a very good marriage. Within a family built on such a marriage, the child gradually learns to value and perform these five fundamental tasks of every competent adult and of every functional society. Gradually he is mentored in them, often unconsciously. Gradually she learns that she is expected to act similarly. Eventually, he and she become more and more expert in performing all five tasks. In other words, they gradually grow in competence and are ready to strike out into society and, eventually, to build their own family. How they do that will depend much on what they experienced in growing up in their families of origin.

With fewer than half our children now reaching the end of childhood in an intact married family,[2]it will be good for all adolescents to learn again and again that an intact married life is a great good to aim for. If they are clear on the goal, they may be motivated to reach it. Just as the children who grew up in the Great Depression became the wealthiest generation in history, maybe we can hope that the children who experienced so much rejection between their parents will become the greatest generation of parents who belong to each other in lifelong marriage.

The future strength of our nation depends on good marriages to yield strong revenues, good health, low crime, high education, and high human capital. As the following enumeration shows, smart parents and smart societies pay attention to the state and strength of marriage.

I. Reasons to Marry: Family

1. Those in always-intact marriages are more likely to report that being married is very important to them, compared to those who are divorced, single, or remarried (although these are also very likely to regard marriage as important).[3]
2. Women raised in intact married families have the lowest average number of out of wedlock pregnancies and births.[4]
3. Those raised in married families have higher expectations of eventually marrying.[5]
4. Those from an intact family are more likely to be happily married.[6]
5. Women raised in stable married families are more likely to marry.[7]
6. Those from intact families are less likely to divorce.[8]
7. Daughters raised in intact families are less likely to say they do not plan to have children than daughters living with divorced or remarried mothers.[9]

Spousal Relationships

• Married couples enjoy more relationship quality and happiness than cohabiters.[10]
• Those who marry experience increased commitment and stability.[11]
• Men raised in married families have more open, affectionate, and cooperative relationships with the women to whom they are attracted than do those from divorced families.[12]
• Married mothers report more love and intimacy in their romantic/spousal relationships than cohabiting or single mothers.[13]

Attachment

• Families with both biological or adoptive parents present have the highest quality of parent-child relationships.[14]
• The infant children of married mothers are more likely to be securely attached than the infant children of cohabiting or single mothers.[15]
• Married people are more likely to exchange emotional or material support with their parents and are more likely to turn to their parents for support in case of an emergency.[16]

Parenting

• Married adults are more likely to value the importance of having their own children than remarried, divorced, separated, or single adults are.[17]
• Marriage enhances an adult's ability to parent.[18]
• Married parents are more encouraging and have higher expectations for their children than always-single parents are, even after adjusting for intelligence and abilities.[19]

Sexuality

• Children from intact married families are least likely to have intercourse before age 14.[20]
• Girls from intact married families are the least likely to have intercourse before age 18. [21]
• Adolescent girls in intact married families have a lower average number of sexual partners than adolescent girls in any other family structure.[22]
• Women raised in intact married families are least likely to cohabit with their eventual first husband.[23]
• Young adults raised in intact married families are more likely to enter legal marriage as their first union than are those who experienced the disruption of their parents' marriage.[24]
• Young adults raised in intact married families are less likely than those who have experienced marital disruption to cohabit before marrying.[25]
• Women raised in intact married families are least likely to have had a homosexual partner in the past year. [26]
• Couples in intact marriages are least likely to have committed adultery. [27]
• Those who are married and have never cohabited are more likely to be faithful than cohabiters.[28]

Sexual Satisfaction

• Married men and women report the most sexual pleasure and fulfillment.[29]
• Married men and women report having more enjoyable sexual intercourse more often.[30]
• Married couples find their sexual relationship more satisfying than cohabiters do.[31]

II. Reasons to Marry: Church and Religion

• Those who are married are more likely to worship, and those who attend religious services are more likely to marry.[32]
• Direct marriage (rather than cohabitation prior to marriage) has a positive effect on religious service attendance.[33]
• Young adults raised in happily married families are more religious than young adults raised in stepfamilies.[34]
• Adults who grew up in an intact married family are more likely than adults from non-intact family structures to attend religious services at least monthly.[35]
• Those from married families are less likely to see religion decline in importance in their lives, less likely to begin attending church less frequently, and less likely to disassociate themselves from their religious affiliation.[36]

III. Reasons to Marry: Education

• Parents in always-intact married families are more likely to help their children do their homework than are parents in stepfamilies or single-parent families.[37]
• Fathers in always-intact married families are more involved in their children's homework than are stepfathers.[38]
• Children of married parents are more engaged in school than children from all other family structures.[39]
• Children from married households have higher cognitive scores and more self-control.[40]
• Compared with children in stable married families, students whose parents are in the process of divorcing have lower academic expectations and test scores.[41]

GPA

• Children from intact married families are most likely to earn mostly As in school.[42]
• Children in intact married families have the highest combined English and math grade point averages (GPAs.)[43]

Level of Education Attained

• Married mothers tend to have the most education, and are most likely to have obtained a Bachelor's degree or higher.[44]
• Children from intact families exceed their parents' educational attainment (sons by 2.8 years, daughters by 2.5 years), after controlling for mother's level of education.[45]
• Children from intact married families have the highest high school graduation rate.[46]
• Those from married families are more likely to gain more education after graduating from high school than those from other family structures.[47]

Behavioral Problems

• Children from intact families have fewer behavioral problems in school.[48]
• First-grade children born to married mothers are less likely to exhibit disruptive behavior, such as disobeying a teacher or behaving aggressively towards peers, than children born to cohabiting or single mothers.[49]
• Adolescents from intact married families are less like to be suspended, expelled, delinquent, or experience school problems than children from other family structures.[50]

IV. Reasons to Marry: Marketplace (Work and Finances)

Employment

• Married men have stronger employment status than cohabiting men.[51]
• Married men work more hours than cohabiting men.[52]
• Men's productivity increases by 27 percent as a result of marrying.[53]

Income

• Married families have larger incomes.[54]
• Intact married families have the largest annual income of all family structures with children under 18.[55]
• Among family structures with dual earners, married households in which both spouses are in the paid workforce have the largest income.[56]
• Marriage increases the income of African-American men and women.[57]
• Married households have the highest income-to-needs ratio.[58]
• Men enjoy a larger "wage premium" (the financial gain men enjoy when they join a female partner) when they marry rather than cohabit.[59]
• The marriage premium produces an annual income increase of approximately .9 percent.[60]
• Women in intact marriages have a higher income-to-needs ratio than women in any other family structure.[61]

Financial Benefits

• Married individuals often qualify for discounts or family rates on car, health and homeowners insurance.[62]
• Married families receive various and significant tax benefits.[63]
• Marriage can raise one's credit score.[64]

Savings and Net Worth

• Married couples save more than unmarried couples.[65]
• Married households have larger average net worth than other family structures.[66]
• Intact married families have the highest net worth of all families with children under 18.[67]
• Married households enjoyed net worth growth $3,000-17,000 higher (over two years) than did other family structures, according to 1992-2006 data.[68]
• Married people in their fifties have more assets than single, never-married, divorced, or separated individuals.[69]
• Married African-Americans and Latinos hold higher levels of home equity than their unmarried peers.[70]

Poverty

• The married family is less likely to be poor than any other family structure.[71]
• Marriage between the biological single parents of impoverished children would move 70 percent of them immediately above the poverty line.[72]
• Marriage decreases a child's chances of living in a low-income condition.[73]
• Marriage among the poor nearly doubles their probability of moving from a poor neighborhood to a non-poor neighborhood.[74]
• Children from married families are less likely to experience poverty than children from any other family structure.[75]
• The children of married mothers experience more upward economic mobility than children of divorced mothers.[76]
• Married couples are less likely to receive welfare.[77]
• Five percent of children from married families receive public assistance, compared to 25 percent of children from cohabiting families.[78]
• Intact married families are less likely to have participated in the Food Stamp Program (now SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).[79]

V. Reasons to Marry: Government and Crime

• Marriage reduces crime rates.[80]
• Married men are less likely to commit crimes.[81]
• Living in an intact married family decreases one's likelihood of becoming a criminal.[82]
• Adults and youths raised in intact families are less likely to be picked up by police than those from non-intact families. [83]
• Those from married families are less likely to commit major property crimes than those from single-parent families.[84]
• Adolescents living in an intact married family are less likely to steal than adolescents living in any other family structure.[85]
• Adolescents from intact families are less delinquent and commit fewer violent acts of delinquency.[86]
• Adolescents in an intact married family are less likely to fight than adolescents in any other family structure.[87]
• Adolescents from intact married families engage in fewer antisocial behaviors than those from other family structures.[88]
• Adolescents from parents with two biological parents or two adoptive parents are less likely to exhibit behavioral problems.[89]
• Children from intact married families are least likely to ever have been in a fight.[90]
• Compared to teenagers from intact families, teenagers from divorced families are more verbally aggressive and violent toward their romantic partners.[91]
• Adolescents in grades 7-12 who live in an intact married family are less likely than adolescents in any other family structure to run away from home.[92]

Violence and Domestic Abuse

• Marriage leads to lower rates of domestic violence and abuse.[93]
• Married men are less likely to murder their partner than cohabiting men are,[94] and married women are less likely to be killed by their spouse than cohabiting women are to be killed by their partner.[95]
• Married women are less likely to be abused by their husband than cohabiting women are to be abused by their partner.[96]
• Domestic violence against ever-married mothers is lower than domestic violence against always-single mothers.[97]
• In arguments, married couples are less likely to react physically (to hit, shove, or throw items) than cohabiting couples are.[98]
• Married women are less likely to have been forced to perform a sexual act (9 percent) than unmarried women (46 percent).[99]
• Pregnant non-Hispanic white and black women who are married are less likely to be physically abused than those who are divorced or separated.[100]
• Married parents are less likely to neglect or abuse their children than are divorced or separated parents.[101]
• Children in intact married families suffer less child abuse than children from any other family structure.[102]
• Children are less likely to be injured or killed by abuse in the intact married family than in all other family structures.[103]

VI. Reasons to Marry: Health

• Marriage is especially beneficial for the health of the elderly.[104]
• Married parents have better health than single parents.[105]
• Married women are healthier than never-married, divorced, and separated women.[106]
• Married people are more likely to report better health,[107] a difference that holds for the poor and for minorities.[108]
• Married women are less stressed.[109]
• Married mothers are less likely to become severely ill.[110]
• Married women's likelihood of becoming ill decreases the longer they are married.[111]
• It seems that marriage, as a sort of social support, strengthens the immune system and makes married persons less likely to catch the common cold.[112]

Health Care

• Married men and women are more likely to have health insurance.[113]
• Married individuals occupy hospitals and health institutions less often than others.[114]
• Married individuals are released from hospitals sooner, on average,[115] and spend half as much time in hospitals as single individuals.[116]
• Married individuals are less likely to go to a nursing home from the hospital.[117]

Lifestyle

• Married individuals tend to live more healthfully.[118]
• Married people maintain healthier weight and engage in more physical activity.[119]
• Married individuals smoke and binge drink less frequently than cohabiters.[120]
• Married women rate their health better than do divorced, separated, widowed, and never-married women.[121]
• Married women are at decreased risk of obesity, are more physically active, and use preventative care measures more often, independent of income differences.[122]
• Staying married results in men and women looking younger.[123]

Severe Illness (Cancer, Heart Disease, Etc.)

• Married men and women have higher survival rates after being diagnosed with cancer.[124]
• Married persons' responses to cancer treatment are better and are comparable to those of people 10 years younger.[125]
• Married men are less likely to die of cirrhosis of the liver than never-married, divorced, and widowed men.[126]
• After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, married men live longer.[127]
• Married women with breast cancer are diagnosed earlier and have higher survival rates.[128]
• Married people are less likely to die after being hospitalized for a heart attack.[129]
• Continuously married women aged 50 to 60 develop heart disease at a rate 60 percent lower than divorced women, 58 percent lower than remarried women, and 34 percent lower than widows.[130]

Longevity

• Married people have lower mortality rates,[131] including lower risk of death from accidents, disease, and self-inflicted injuries.[132]
• The longer a person's marriage, the lower is their mortality risk.[133]
• Children, teenagers, and adults from married households have lower mortality rates.[134]

Pregnancy

• Married mothers practice better prenatal care and more consistently avoid harmful substances than unmarried mothers do.[135]
• Married mothers are less likely to have low birth weight children than stably cohabiting mothers or mothers involved in a romantic relationship with their baby's father.[136]
• Married African-American women who were themselves born to married mothers are less likely to have low birth weight children.[137]

Abortion

• Married women have significantly fewer abortions than unmarried women.[138]

Children's Well-Being

• Children of married parents are less likely to be diagnosed with asthma.[139]
• Girls raised in intact married families have a later onset of puberty.[140]

VII. Reasons to Marry: Mental Health

• Married people are least likely to have mental disorders.[141]
• Marriage protects against feelings of loneliness.[142]
• Married persons have higher levels of emotional and psychological well-being than those who are single, divorced, or cohabiting.[143]
• Married mothers enjoy greater psychological well-being than cohabiting or single mothers.[144]
• Children of married parents enjoy a higher quality of life than those whose parents are cohabiting.[145]
• Children in intact married families enjoy more emotional and behavioral well-being than children in cohabiting or single-mother families.[146]

Anxiety and Stress

• Marriage is protective against psychological stressors because marriage increases perceived relationship commitment.[147]
• Both adults and children in married families suffer less psychological distress than their counterparts in divorced families. [148]
• Married men have lower levels of stress hormones.[149]
• Married women experience less psychological distress.[150]
• Married mothers feel less ambivalence and experience less conflict with their husbands than do cohabiting and single women with their partners.[151]

Depression

• Those who are married report less depression[152] than cohabiting couples. [153]
• Married mothers report less depression, more support from their partners, and more stable relationships than cohabiting mothers.[154]
• Adolescents living with married parents are less likely to be depressed than those in stepfamilies or single-parent families (with or without other adults present).[155]

Suicide

• Married people are least likely to commit suicide.[156]
• Adolescents in divorced families are more likely to commit suicide.[157]

Happiness

• Those raised in an intact family are more likely to consider themselves "very happy" than those raised in non-intact families.[158]
• Married people are much more likely to report being happy than cohabiters.[159]
• Married people (those in intact marriages and those who have divorced and remarried) are most likely to report being proud of their work.[160]
• Married mothers of infants have the most positive attitudes and report forming better home environments than single and cohabiting mothers.[161]

Drug and Alcohol Use

• Teenagers from intact families are less likely to begin smoking than those with never-married or divorced single parents.[162]
• Continuously married adults are least likely to report that they sometimes drink too much.[163]
• Married women have fewer alcohol problems.[164]
• Married individuals are more likely to cease using marijuana, due in part to improvements in self-control.[165]
• Adolescents from intact married families are less likely to use cocaine than those from divorced families.[166]

Community

• Older married couples enjoy more social support than older cohabiters.[167]
• Married mothers enjoy more social support than cohabiting or single mothers.[168]
• Those in intact marriages are least likely to believe that most people would try to take advantage of others. [169]

Appendix Research Note

While most researchers agree on the benefits of marriage, some discrepancies exist among the way they believe the research should be interpreted.

The first is the difference between selection and protection-that is, the difference between the idea that specific kinds of people (healthier people, more affluent people, more religious people) tend to get married and the idea that marriage itself is protective and offers specific benefits (health, economic stability, greater religiosity). Some research controls for the effects of selection, but not all studies implement these controls. Although most of these benefits are actually the effect of marriage itself, some research shows the impact of self-selection.

The second pertains to marital quality. Some researchers say that a happy and healthy marriage is fundamentally different from one filled with conflict. This thinking has empirical backing, but there is also evidence to suggest that even a very difficult marriage retains some of the benefits associated with marriage for both the parents and the children.

For more information:

• Jana Staton, "Making the Connection Between Healthy Marriage and Health Outcomes: What the Research Says," National Healthy Marriage Resource Center Research Brief (2009): 1-18.
• California Healthy Marriages Coalition, "Healthy Marriages, Healthy Society. Research on the Alignment of Marital Outcomes, Marriage Education and Key Social Concerns." Available at http://www.camarriage.com/content/resources/1f250f81-d24d-4937-9ce1-595464e2b6c8.pdf.
• California Healthy Marriages Coalition, "Healthy Marriages, Mental Health. Research on the Alignment of Marital Outcomes and Mental Health." Available at http://camarriage.com/content/resources/7b8690b0-784f-46e7-af7d-438a9b064557.pdf.
• California Healthy Marriages Coalition, "Healthy Marriages, Responsible Fatherhood. Research on the Alignment of Marital Outcomes Marriage Education and Their Impact on Father Involvement in the Lives of Their Children." Available athttp://camarriage.com/content/resources/16aedc8f-d9a5-494a-b3d0-6672034f8b9f.pdf.
• Mary Parke, "Are Married Parents Really Better for Children? What Research Says About the Effects of Family Structure on Child Well-Being," Center for Law and Social Policy (May 2003): 1-11.

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[1] See Patrick F. Fagan and Nicholas Zill, "The Second Annual Index of Family Belonging and Rejection," (Washington, D.C.: Marriage and Religion Research Institute, 2011). Available at http://marri.frc.org/index-2011.

[2] See Patrick F. Fagan and Nicholas Zill, "The Second Annual Index of Family Belonging and Rejection," (Washington, D.C.: Marriage and Religion Research Institute, 2011). Available at http://marri.frc.org/index-2011.

[3] Patrick F. Fagan and Althea Nagai, "'The Personal Importance of Being Married' by Marital Status." Available athttp://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-83-the-personal-importance-of-being-married-by-marital-status-. Accessed 1 September 2011.

[4] Scott Talkington, "'Ever had an Unwed Pregnancy' by Current Religious Attendance and Structure of Family of Origin." Available athttp://marri.frc.org/get.cfm?i=MA11A01. Accessed 1 September 2011.
Lawrence L. Wu and Brian C. Martinson, "Family Structure and the Risk of a Premarital Birth," American Sociological Review 58, no. 2 (1993): 210-232.

[5] Wendy D. Manning, "The Changing Institution of Marriage: Adolescents' Expectation to Cohabit and to Marry," Journal of Marriage and Family 69, no. 3 (August 2007): 559-575. As cited by The Heritage Foundation: Family Facts. Available athttp://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/22/navigating-the-winding-road-how-family-and-religion-influence-teen-and-young-adult-outcomes. Accessed 20 July 2011.

[6] Patrick F. Fagan and Althea Nagai, "Intergenerational Links to Marital Happiness: Family Structure." Available athttp://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-32-intergenerational-links-to-marital-happiness-family-structure. Accessed 1 September 2011.

[7] Frances Kobrin Goldscheider and Linda J. Waite, "Sex Differences in the Entry into Marriage," American Journal of Sociology 92, no. 1 (1986): 104

[8] Patrick F. Fagan and Althea Nagai, "Divorce or Separation: Family Structure in Adolescence." Available athttp://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-62-divorce-or-separation-family-structure-in-adolescence. Accessed 22 September 2011.
Jay D. Teachman, "Childhood Living Arrangements and the Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce," Journal of Marriage and Family 64 (2002): 717-729. As cited by The Heritage Foundation: Family Facts. Available at http://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/39/family-environment-and-childrens-prospects-for-marriage. Accessed 20 July 2011.

[9 Bonnie Barber, Jacquelynne S. Eccles, Lisa J. Colarossi, and Michael F. Schrecker, "The Impact of Family Structure on Gender-Role Attitudes of Adolescents and Their Mothers," University of Michigan Paper 1989, funded by Grant HD17296 from National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (paper presented at biennial meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, Kansas City, Missouri, April 1989): 6. Available at http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/garp/articles/eccles89.pdf. Accessed 5 December 2011.

[10] Susan Brown and Alan Booth, "Cohabitation versus Marriage: A Comparison of Relationship Quality," Journal of Marriage and the Family58, no. 3 (1996): 674.
Larry Bumpass, James Sweet, and Andrew Cherlin, "The Role of Cohabitation in Declining Rates of Marriage," Journal of Marriage and the Family 53, no. 4 (1991): 923.
Scott Stanley, Sarah Whitton, Howard Markham, "Maybe I Do: Interpersonal Commitment and Premarital or Nonmarital Cohabitation," Journal of Family Issues 25, no. 4 (2004): 507-508.

[11] Daniel Lees, "The Psychological Benefits of Marriage," Research Note (April 2007): 1-4. Available athttp://www.maxim.org.nz/files/pdf/psychological_benefits_of_marriage.pdf. Accessed 27 July 2011.

[12] Silvio Silvestri, "Marital instability in men from intact and divorced families: Interpersonal behavior, cognitions and intimacy," Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 18 (1992): 79-108.

[13] Stacy Rosenkrantz Aronson and Aletha C. Huston, "The mother-infant relationship in single, cohabiting, and married families: a case for marriage?" Journal of Family Psychology 18, no. 1 (March 2004): 5-18. As cited by The Heritage Foundation: Family Facts. Available athttp://www.familyfacts.org/search?q=huston%20and%20aronson&type=findings&page=1. Accessed 1 September 2011.

[14] Nicholas Zill, "Quality of Parent-Child Relationship and Family Structure." Available at http://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-47-quality-of-parent-child-relationship-and-family-structure. Accessed 1 September 2011.

[15] Stacy Rosenkrantz Aronson and Aletha C. Huston, "The mother-infant relationship in single, cohabiting, and married families: a case for marriage?" Journal of Family Psychology 18, no. 1 (March 2004): 5-18. As cited by The Heritage Foundation: Family Facts. Available athttp://www.familyfacts.org/search?q=huston%20and%20aronson&type=findings&page=1. Accessed 1 September 2011.

[16] David Eggenbeen, "Cohabitation and Exchanges of Support," Social Forces 83, no. 3 (2005): 1105.

[17] Patrick F. Fagan and Althea Nagai, "The Personal Importance of Having Children by Marital Status." Available athttp://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-80-the-personal-importance-of-having-children-by-marital-status. Accessed 1 September 2011.

[18] Ronald Angel and Jacqueline Angel, Painful Inheritance: Health and the New Generation of Fatherless Families (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1993): 139, 148. As cited in Glenn T. Stanton, "Why Marriage Matters." Available athttp://www.ampartnership.org/resourcecenter/news/89-why-marriage-matters.html. Accessed 27 July 2011.

[19] Nan Marie Astone and Sara S. McLanahan, "Family structure, parental practices and high school completion," American Sociological Review 56 (1991): 309-320.
Maxine Seaborn Thompson, Karl L. Alexander and Doris R. Entwisle, "Household composition, parental expectations and school achievement," Social Forces 67: 424-451.
Marie Wadsby and Carl Goran Svedin, "Academic achievement in children of divorce," Journal of School Psychology 34, no. 4 (1996): 325-336.

[20] Patrick F. Fagan and Scott Talkington, "Ever Had Intercourse at 14 Years of Age or Younger." Available at http://marri.frc.org/get.cfm?i=MA11B05. Accessed 26 August 2011.

[21] Patrick F. Fagan and D. Paul Sullins, "Females Who Had Sexual Intercourse before Turning 18 Are More Likely to Worship Infrequently and to Have Grown Up in Non-Intact Families." Available at http://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-96-females-under-the-age-of-18-at-first-sexual-intercourse-3-charts. Accessed 26 August 2011.

[22] Patrick F. Fagan, "Family Structure and Sexual Intercourse Partners--Adolescent Girls." Available athttp://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-5-family-structure-and-sexual-intercourse-partners-adolescent-girls. Accessed 26 August 2011.

[23] Patrick F. Fagan and D. Paul Sullins, "'Women Who Cohabited with Eventual First Husband' by Structure of Family of Origin and by Current Religious Attendance." Available at http://marri.frc.org/get.cfm?i=MA10G09 . Accessed 1 September 2011.

[24] Arland Thornton, "Influence of the Marital History of Parents on the Marital and Cohabitational Experiences of Children," American Journal of Sociology 986, no. 4 (Jan 1991): 883, 886.

[25] Arland Thornton, "Influence of the Marital History of Parents on the Marital and Cohabitational Experiences of Children," American Journal of Sociology 986, no. 4 (Jan 1991): 883, 888.

[26] Patrick F. Fagan and D. Paul Sullins, "Women (aged 14-44) Who Had a Homosexual Sexual Partner in the Past Year." Available athttp://www.frc.org/marriinteriorpages/mapping-america-93-women-who-had-a-homosexual-sexual-partner-in-the-past-year-by-current-religious-attendance-and-structure-of-family-of-origin. Accessed 26 August 2011.

[27] Patrick F. Fagan and Althea Nagai, "Adultery by Marital Status." Available at http://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-74-adultery-by-marital-status. Accessed 26 August 2011.

[28] Judith Treas and Deirdre Giesen, "Sexual Infidelity among Married and Cohabiting Americans," Journal of Marriage and the Family 62, no. 1 (2000): 54.

[29] Robert T. Michael, et al., Sex in America: A Definitive Survey (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1994), 124-129; Edward O. Laumann, et al., The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 364, table 10.5; Andrew Greeley, Faithful Attraction: Discovering Intimacy, Love and Fidelity in American Marriage (New York: Tom Doherty Association, 1991), see chapter 6. As cited in Glenn T. Stanton, "Why Marriage Matters." Available athttp://www.ampartnership.org/resourcecenter/news/89-why-marriage-matters.html. Accessed 27 July 2011.

[30] Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher, "The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier, and Better off Financially." As cited by Richard Niolon. Available athttp://successfulsingles.com/media_articles_files/The%20Case%20for%20Marriage:%20Why%20Married%20People%20Are%20Happier,%20Healthier,%20and%20Better%20off%20Financially.pdf. Accessed 27 July 2011.

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[32] Arland Thornton, William Axinn, and Daniel Hill, "Reciprocal Effects of Religiosity, Cohabitation, and Marriage," The American Journal of Sociology 98, no. 3 (1992): 639-41; See also Arland Thornton, William Axinn, and Yu Xie, Marriage and Cohabitation (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2007), 218-221.
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[33] Arland Thornton, William G. Axinn, and Daniel H. Hill, "Reciprocal Effects of Religiosity, Cohabitation, and Marriage," The American Journal of Sociology 98, no. 3 (1992): 643.

[34] Scott M. Myers, "An interactive model of religiosity inheritance: The importance of family context," American Sociological Review 61 (1996): 864.

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[37] Frank F. Furstenberg and Christine Winquist Nord, "Parenting apart: Patterns of childrearing after marital disruption," Journal of Marriage and the Family 47 (1985): 893-904. As cited in Sandra J. Balli, David H. Demo, John F. Wedman, "Family Involvement with Children's Homework: An Intervention in the Middle Grades," Family Relations 47, no. 2 (April 1998): 150.

[38] Alan C. Acock and David H. Demo, Family diversity and well-being (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994). As cited in Sandra J. Balli, David H. Demo, John F. Wedman, "Family Involvement with Children's Homework: An Intervention in the Middle Grades," Family Relations 47, no. 2 (April 1998): 150.

[39] Susan L. Brown, "Family Structure and Child Well-Being: The Significance of Parental Cohabitation," Journal of Marriage and the Family66, no. 2 (2004): 362.
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[40] Julie Artis, "Maternal Cohabitation and Child Well-Being Among Kindergarten Children," Journal of Marriage and the Family 69, no. 1 (2007): 227-232.

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[45] Verna M. Keith and Barbara Finlay, "The impact of parental divorce on children's educational attainment, marital timing, and likelihood of divorce," Journal of Marriage and the Family 50 (1988): 800.

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[57] Marianne E. Page and Ann Hugg Stevens, "Understanding Racial Differences in the Economic Costs of Growing Up in a Single-Parent Family," Demography 42 (2005): 75-90; Andrea E. Willson and Melissa A. Hardy, "Racial Disparities in Income Security for a Cohort of Aging American Women," Social Forces 80 (2002): 1283-1306; Steven L. Nock, "Marriage and Fatherhood in the Lives of African American Men," in Black Fathers in Contemporary Society, ed. O. Clayton, R. Mincy, and D. Blankenhorn (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2003), 30-42. As cited in Institute for American Values, "Why Marriage Matters: 26 Conclusions from the Social Sciences," 1-43. Available athttp://www.americanvalues.org/pdfs/why_marriage_matters2.pdf. Accessed 1 August 2011.

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[59] Phillip Cohen, "Cohabitation and the Declining Marriage Premium for Men," Work and Occupations 29, no. 3 (2002): 354.

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[62] Jacob Silverman, "How Marriage Works." Available at http://people.howstuffworks.com/marriage1.htm. Accessed 26 July 2011.
The State Farm website says that insurance rates drop for men under 25 who marry.

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[66] Joseph Lupton and James P. Smith, "Marriage, Assets, and Savings," Labor and Population Program, Working Paper Series 99-12 (November 1999): 33; Janet Wilmoth and Gregor Koso, "Does Marital History Matter? Marital Status and Wealth Outcomes among Preretirement Adults," Journal of Marriage and Family 64, no. 1 (February 2002): 261; Julie Zissimopoulos, "Gain and Loss: Marriage and Wealth Changes over Time," Michigan Retirement Research Center, Working Paper (January 2009): 7; Maria Sophia Aguirre, "Determinants of Economic Growth, Population, and Family Wealth: The Case for Guatemala," Centro de Investigacion Familia, Desarrollo y Poblacion(2007): 15, 59. All as cited in Patrick F. Fagan, Andrew J. Kidd, and Henry Potrykus, "Marriage and Economic Well-Being: The Economy of the Family Rises or Falls with Marriage," (May 2011). Available at http://marri.frc.org/get.cfm?i=RS11E03. Accessed 20 July 2011.
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[67] Survey of Consumer Finance, Federal Reserve Board (2007). As cited in Patrick F. Fagan, Andrew J. Kidd, and Henry Potrykus, "Marriage and Economic Well-Being: The Economy of the Family Rises or Falls with Marriage," (May 2011): Chart 5: Median Net Worth of Households with Children by Family Structure. Available at http://marri.frc.org/get.cfm?i=RS11E03. Accessed 1 September 2011.

[68] Julie Zissimopoulos, "Gain and Loss: Marriage and Wealth Changes over Time," Michigan Retirement Research Center, Working Paper(January 2009): 9, 22. As cited in Patrick F. Fagan, Andrew J. Kidd, and Henry Potrykus, "Marriage and Economic Well-Being: The Economy of the Family Rises or Falls with Marriage," (May 2011). Available at http://marri.frc.org/get.cfm?i=RS11E03. Accessed 20 July 2011.

[69] Joseph Lupton and James P. Smith, "Marriage, Assets, and Savings," Labor and Population Program, Working Paper Series 99-12 (November 1999): 33.

[70] Lauren J. Krivo and Robert L. Kaufman, "Housing and Wealth Inequality: Racial-Ethnic Differences in Home Equity in the United States,"Demography 41 (2004): 585-605. As cited in Institute for American Values, "Why Marriage Matters: 26 Conclusions from the Social Sciences": 1-43. Available at http://www.americanvalues.org/pdfs/why_marriage_matters2.pdf. Accessed 1 August 2011.

[71] Sarah Avellar and Pamela J. Smock, "The Economic Consequences of the Dissolution of Cohabiting Unions," Journal of Marriage and Family 67, no. 2 (May 2005): 315-327. As cited by The Heritage Foundation: Family Facts. Available athttp://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/31/family-structure-and-economic-well-being. Accessed 20 July 2011.
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[72] Robert E. Rector, Kirk Johnson, Patrick F. Fagan, and Lauren Noyes, "Increasing Marriage Would Dramatically Reduce Child Poverty,"Center for Data Analysis Report #03-06, The Heritage Foundation: Washington, D.C. (20 May 2003).

[73] Garnett Picot, Myles Zyblock, and Wendy Piper, "Why do Children Move Into and Out of Low Income: Changing Labour Market Conditions or Marriage or Divorce?" Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch working paper (1999): 15; Timothy J. Biblarz and Adrian E. Raftery, "The Effects of Family Disruption on Social Mobility," American Sociological Review 58, no. 1 (February 1993): 105. Both as cited in Patrick F. Fagan, Andrew J. Kidd, and Henry Potrykus, "Marriage and Economic Well-Being: The Economy of the Family Rises or Falls with Marriage," (May 2011). Available at http://marri.frc.org/get.cfm?i=RS11E03. Accessed 20 July 2011.

[74] Scott J. South and Kyle D. Crowder, "Escaping distressed neighborhoods: Individual, community, and metropolitan influences," American Journal of Sociology 102 (1997): 1067-1069.

[75] Survey of Consumer Finance, Federal Reserve Board (2007). As cited in Patrick F. Fagan, Andrew J. Kidd, and Henry Potrykus, "Marriage and Economic Well-Being: The Economy of the Family Rises or Falls with Marriage," (May 2011): Chart 7: Percent of Children in Poverty by Family Type. Available at http://marri.frc.org/get.cfm?i=RS11E03. Accessed 1 September 2011.
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[76] Thomas DeLeire and Leonard M. Lopoo, "Family Structure and the Economic Mobility of Children," Economic Mobility Project, 2010. Available at http://www.economicmobility.org/assets/pdfs/Family_Structure.pdf. Accessed 14 March 2011. As cited in Patrick F. Fagan, Andrew J. Kidd, and Henry Potrykus, "Marriage and Economic Well-Being: The Economy of the Family Rises or Falls with Marriage," (May 2011). Available at http://marri.frc.org/get.cfm?i=RS11E03. Accessed 20 July 2011.

[77] Daphne Hernandez and Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, "Income Volatility and Family Structure Patterns: Association with Stability and Change in Food Stamp Program Participation," Journal of Family and Economic Issues 30, no. 4 (2009): 366. As cited in Patrick F. Fagan, Andrew J. Kidd, and Henry Potrykus, "Marriage and Economic Well-Being: The Economy of the Family Rises or Falls with Marriage," (May 2011). Available at http://marri.frc.org/get.cfm?i=RS11E03. Accessed 20 July 2011.

[78] Peter D. Brandon and Larry Bumpass, "Children's living arrangements, coresidence of unmarried fathers, and welfare receipt," Journal of Family Issues 22 (2001): 14.
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[79] Daphne Hernandez and Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, "Income Volatility and Family Structure Patterns: Association with Stability and Change in Food Stamp Program Participation," Journal of Family and Economic Issues 30, no. 4 (2009): 366.

[80] Arjan A.J. Blokland and Paul Nieuwbeerta, "The Effects of Life Circumstances on Longitudinal Trajectories of Offending," Criminology 43 (2005): 1203-1240.

[81] Ryan D. King, Michael Massoglia, and Ross McMillan, "The Context of Marriage and Crime: Gender, the Propensity to Marry, and Offending in Early Adulthood," Criminology, 445 (2007): 33-65. As cited by The Heritage Foundation: Family Facts. Available athttp://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/26/marriage-and-family-as-deterrents-from-delinquency-violence-and-crime. Accessed 22 September 2011.
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[82] Anu Sauvola, "The Association Between Single-Parent Family Background and Physical Morbidity, Mortality, and Criminal Behaviour in Adulthood," PhD dissertation, University of Oulu. Oulu, Finland: Acta Universitatis Ouluensis Medica D. 629, 47-51.

[83] Patrick F. Fagan and Althea Nagai, "Intergenerational Links to Being Picked Up or Charged by Police: Family Structure." Available athttp://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-56-intergenerational-links-to-being-picked-up-or-charged-by-police-family-structure. Accessed 29 August 2011.
Patrick F. Fagan and Scott Talkington, "'Ever Been Arrested' by Current Religious Attendance and Structure of Family of Origin." Available athttp://marri.frc.org/get.cfm?i=MA11B01. Accessed 29 August 2011.

[84] Stephen Demuth and Susan L. Brown, "Family Structure, Family Processes, and Adolescent Delinquency: The Significance of Parental Absence Versus Parental Gender," Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 41, no. 1 (February 2004): 58-81. As cited by The Heritage Foundation: Family Facts . Available at http://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/26/marriage-and-family-as-deterrents-from-delinquency-violence-and-crime . Accessed 20 July 2011.

[85] Patrick F. Fagan, "Family Structure and Theft." Available at http://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-23-family-structure-and-theft. Accessed 29 August 2011.

[86] Stephen Demuth and Susan L. Brown, "Family Structure, Family Processes, and Adolescent Delinquency: The Significance of Parental Absence Versus Parental Gender," Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 41, no. 1 (February 2004): 58-81. As cited on The Heritage Foundation: Family Facts. Available at http://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/26/marriage-and-family-as-deterrents-from-delinquency-violence-and-crime. Accessed 20 July 2011.

[87] Patrick F. Fagan, "Family Structure and Fighting." Available at http://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-14-family-structure-and-fighting. Accessed 29 August 2011.

[88] Robert Apel and Catherine Kaukinen, "On the Relationship between Family Structure and Antisocial Behavior: Parental Cohabitation and Blended Households," Criminology 46, no. 1 (March 2008): 35-70. As cited by The Heritage Foundation: Family Facts . Available athttp://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/26/marriage-and-family-as-deterrents-from-delinquency-violence-and-crime. Accessed 20 July 2011.

[89] Nicholas Zill, "Behavior Problems and Family Structure." Available at http://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-29-behavior-problems-by-family-structure. Accessed 26 August 2011. See also Kathleen B. Rodgers and Hillary A. Rose, "Risk and Resiliency Factors Among Adolescents Who Experience Marital Transitions," Journal of Marriage and Family 64, no. 4 (November 2002): 1024-1037. As cited by The Heritage Foundation: Family Facts. Available at http://www.familyfacts.org/briefs/24/keeping-teens-safe-how-the-intact-family-buffers-against-teen-substance-use. Accessed 20 July 2011.

[90] Patrick F. Fagan, "Family Structure and Fighting." Available at http://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-14-family-structure-and-fighting. Accessed 26 August 2011.

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[92] Patrick F. Fagan, "Running Away and Family Structure." Available at http://www.frc.org/mappingamerica/mapping-america-26-running-away-and-family-structure. Accessed 26 August 2011.

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