NEW! Study Ties Cervical and Testicular Cancers to Increased Divorce Rate

NEW! Lack of Marriage & Work Are the Roots of Child Poverty Problem

Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles

How Can America Reduce Violent Crime and Gang Activity? Encourage Marriage

Americans Love Marriage

Research Continues to Uphold the Value of Marriage - Why Marriage Matters

For more information regarding Marriage and Cohabitation, click here.

Study ties Cervical and Testicular cancers to increased divorce rate [NOTE: worldwide, 99% of all cases of cervical cancer involve the STD human papillomavirus HPV. As this study progresses, it should consider the effect of premarital and extramarital sexual activity on divorce rates.]

People who develop cervical or testicular cancer may face another harsh reality: they are more likely to get divorced than those without the disease, a new study says.In research presented 27Sept at a meeting of the European Cancer Organization, Norwegian experts found cancer patients were no more likely to get divorced than people without cancer, except for those with cervical and testicular cancer. The divorce rate actually dropped slightly in the years following diagnosis for most cancers, they said. 
But the study showed women with cervical cancer had a 40 percent higher chance of getting divorced than other women. Men with testicular cancer were 20 percent more likely to get divorced than similar men without cancer. Both types of cancer are curable and are diagnosed at younger ages than other cancers.
 
The researchers didn't have any information on why the couples divorced. Experts thought that the breakups could be due both to the cancers, and to the youth of the couples involved. Older couples might be more committed to each other and less likely to get divorced even when faced with a serious illness.
 
The researchers said the risk of divorce among those with cervical or testicular cancer dropped with age.
 
"It seems to be worse for your marriage to get cancer early," said Astri Syse, an epidemiologist at the Norwegian Cancer Registry who led the study.
 
The researchers looked at 2.8 million people, comparing the divorce rates of 215,000 cancer survivors and couples with no cancer. They did not ask about the reasons for the divorces, but only looked at marriage and divorce registration data between 1974 and 2001.
 
The researchers said since Norway's divorce rate is the same as other developed countries the results may apply elsewhere.
 
Lesley Fallowfield, a professor of psycho-oncology at Sussex University who was not connected to the study, said that because sex is a particularly important way for young couples to cement their relationship, a cancer diagnosis that affects a couple's sex life might be very damaging.
 
"No patient develops cancer in a social vacuum," she said. "The diagnosis will always have an impact on a loved one, and in some cases, they may decide to leave."
 
Syse said that her study was good news for some cancer patients.
 
"There's a myth that if you get breast cancer, your husband will leave you," she said. In fact, she and her colleagues found that survivors of breast cancer were less likely to get divorced than similar women without the disease.
 
Another study presented Wednesday at the Barcelona meeting found that children of cancer patients were so affected by the news of their parent's diagnosis that they had post-traumatic stress symptoms years later.
 
"We clearly need to be looking closer at how cancer affects a patient's loved ones," Fallowfield said. "There is more to treating cancer than just medical care."
[27Sept07, AP, By M. Cheng, BARCELONA, Spain;  European Cancer Organization: http://www.ecco-org.eu/; http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070927/ap_on_he_me/cancer_divorce_3]

Lack of Marriage & Work Are the Roots of Child Poverty Problem, Says Researcher
 
A researcher at a prominent conservative think tank says child poverty in the U.S. is self-inflicted due to the bad decisions of parents.
 
Dr. Robert Rector says a lack of work and a lack of marriage are the two main factors producing child poverty in the U.S.

The senior research fellow in domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation notes that close to two-thirds of all poor children are in single-parent families.

According to Rector, the major reason for that is that each year, about 38 percent of American children -- the equivalent of about 1.5 million children -- are born into homes without a father.
 
"Those children are about seven times more likely to live in poverty through their childhood, than are kids raised in a married couple's family," says Rector. "In fact, you can take data on the mother and the father, and if that mother [who] gave birth without being married was actually married to the real father of the child, in about 70 percent of the cases the child would be raised immediately out of poverty."
 
The researcher says the average family with poor children only works about 16 hours a week on a yearly average.

According to Rector, if the number of hours worked per week were raised to 40, those children would be "immediately raised out of poverty." And throwing more money at the problem, he adds, will not fix anything. Instead he suggests that the underlying behavioral issues need to be dealt with in order to see results.
 
A newly released Census Bureau report says the nation's poverty rate was 12.3 percent in 2006.

Rector also notes that one out of ten people living in poverty in the U.S. are in the country illegally.
[http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/09/lack_of_marriage_work_the_root.php
Jim Brown, OneNewsNow.com, September 4, 2007; LifeSiteNews.com, 4Sept; N Valko RN, 5Sept] 

MARRIAGE : REAFFIRM IT, DON’T REDEFINE IT. Released by 50 nationally respected scholars in fields from law and sociology to history and economics, the thought-provoking document Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles makes a strong intellectual case for the role of marriage in society—apart from its religious significance.

"As scholars," reads the Executive Summary of the Principles, "we are persuaded that the case for marriage can be made and won at the level of reason. Marriage protects children, men and women, and the common good. The health of marriage is particularly important in a free society, which depends upon citizens to govern their private lives and rear their children responsibly, so as to limit the scope, size, and power of the state."

Read Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles at: http://www.princetonprinciples.org
[“More Than 50 Distinguished Scholars Issue Landmark Principles on the Importance of Marriage and the Public Good,” LifeSiteNews.com, 06-07-06; Abstinence Clearinghouse, June 21, 2006]

HOW CAN AMERICA REDUCE VIOLENT CRIME AND GANG ACTIVITY? ENCOURAGE MARRIAGE.
A review released in a September iMAPP Policy Brief examining 23 recent U.S. studies published in peer-reviewed journals found that family structure has a profound effect on crime and delinquency.

Of the studies, all but 3 agreed that children from non-intact or single-parent households had higher rates of crime and/or delinquency.

One particular study reviewed was even more specific, stating “adolescents in married, two-biological-parent families generally fare better than children in any of the family types examined here, including single-mother, cohabiting stepfather, and married stepfather families. The advantage of marriage appears to exist primarily when the child is the biological offspring of both parents."(1)

Several studies focused on gang participation found similar results. One study summarized the dangers of single parent homes by saying, “the single most important variable [in ‘gang centrality’] is the family’s structure….the greater the number of parents in the household, the lower the reported gang centrality.” (2)

Footnotes
1. Manning, Wendy, & Lamb, Kathleen A. Journal of Marriage & Family, 65 (2003) p.890.
2. Lynskey, Dana Peterson, et al. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 51 (2000), p.10.
Source: iMAPP Policy Brief, “Can Married Parents Prevent Crime?” September 21, 2005, http://www.marriagedebate.com/pdf/imapp.crimefamstructure.pdf Abstinence Clearinghouse, 12Oct05]

MARRIAGE: AMERICANS LOVE MARRIAGE, HATE DIVORCE. The results of a new marriage survey reveal overwhelming support for the institution of marriage. The survey, released by the National Fatherhood Initiative, sampled more than 1,500 Americans over the age of 18 for information.

Here are a few of the impressive findings:
  * 89 percent of Americans believe “All things being equal, it is better for children to be raised in a household that has a married mother and father.”
  * Marriage is considered desirable. 86 percent of never-married individuals hope to be married someday.
  * Most married people are happy. 93 percent of Americans say they would marry their spouse all over again. Those most likely to be happy were college-educated and did not cohabitate before marriage.
  * Divorce is not considered a good thing. 94 percent think that divorce is a serious, national problem. 59 percent think America would be better off if divorces were harder to get. (73 percent support a mandatory one year waiting period to make sure divorce is the best solution.) Three-fifths of divorced individuals wished their spouses had worked harder at making their marriage work.
Report: www.fatherhood.org/doclibrary/nms.pdf
[Universal Press Syndicate, “Closing the Divorce Divide,” 11/29/05 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucmg/20051130/cm_ucmg/closingthedivorcedivide;_ylt=A86.I1ilJo1DEgEAogP9wxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA
Abstinence Clearinghouse E-Mail Update, 12-07-05]

LATVIAN PARLIAMENT OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORTS CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION FOR TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE. 73 of the 100-member Latvian legislators confirmed a proposal to enshrine the traditional definition of marriage in the country's constitution 1Dec; a two-thirds majority is necessary to effect a change to the country's constitution.

Although same-sex "marriage" is already prohibited by law in Latvia, a change to the constitution assures the law will be less likely to be amended by an activist court - a real worry in light of events in Canada and the US.[Terry Vanderheyden,2Dec05 LifeSiteNews.com]

RESEARCH CONTINUES TO UPHOLD THE VALUE OF MARRIAGE. [Heritage Foundation & Wade Horn, HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families 18Nov05 program] new studies affirm marriage is vital to a successful society:

Horn emphasized that a federal investment in promoting healthy marriages helps to keep government small. This is because people are less likely to need governmental assistance if they grow up in stable homes. 

Supporting marriage goes to the root of many societal problems and allows young people to become independent, responsible adults. The Institute for American Values detailed its findings in an extensive study called “Why Marriage Matters.” 

The study lists 26 sociological findings from 16 researchers, who highlight 5 new themes in marriage-related research:
 Even though marriage has lost ground in the minority communities in recent years, marriage has not lost its value in these communities.

Why Marriage Matters, 2nd Ed.: 26 Conclusions From The Social Sciences - Scholars on family life have re-issued a joint report [first released in 2002] on the importance of marriage; it highlights 5 new themes in marriage-related research by a politically diverse and interdisciplinary group of 16 leading family scholars, chaired by W. Bradford Wilcox [Univ of VA], and includes psychologist John Gottman [best selling author of books about marriage and relationships], Linda Waite [coauthor The Case for Marriage], Norval Glenn & Steven Nock [two of the top family social scientists in the country], William Galston [Clinton Administration domestic policy advisor], and Judith Wallerstein [author, national bestseller The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce].

Since 1960, the proportion of children who do not live with their own two parents has risen sharply—from 19.4% to 42.3% in the Nineties. This change has been caused, first, by large increases in divorce, and more recently, by a big jump in single mothers and cohabiting couples who have children but don't marry.

For several decades the impact of this dramatic change in family structure has been the subject of vigorous debate among scholars. No longer. These 26 findings are now widely agreed upon.

Among the research findings summarized by the report are:
About Children
• Parental divorce reduces the likelihood that children will graduate from college, and achieve high-status jobs.
• Children who live with their own two married parents enjoy better physical health, on average, than children in other family forms. The health advantages of married homes remain even after taking into account socioeconomic status.
• Parental divorce approximately doubles the odds that adult children will end up divorced.
About Men
• Married men earn between 10 and 40 percent more than single men with similar education and job histories.
• Married people, especially married men, have longer life expectancies than otherwise similar singles.
• Marriage increases the likelihood fathers will have good relationships with children.  Sixty-five percent of young adults whose parents divorced had poor relationships with their fathers (compared to 29% from non-divorced families).
About Women
• Divorce and unmarried childbearing significantly increases poverty rates of both mothers and children. Between one-fifth and one-third of divorcing women end up in poverty as a result of divorce.
• Married mothers have lower rates of depression than single or cohabiting mothers.
• Married women appear to have a lower risk of domestic violence than cohabiting or dating women. Even after controlling for race, age, and education, people who live together are still three times more likely to report violent arguments than married people.
About Society
• Adults who live together but do not marry—cohabitors—are more similar to singles than to married couples in terms of physical health and disability, emotional well-being and mental health, as well as assets and earnings.  Their children more closely resemble the children of single people than the children of married people.
• Marriage appears to reduce the risk that children and adults will be either perpetrators or victims of crime. Single and divorced women are four to five times more likely to be victims of violent crime in any given year than married women. Boys raised in single-parent homes are about twice as likely (and boys raised in stepfamilies three times as likely) to have committed a crime that leads to incarceration by the time they reach their early thirties, even after controlling for factors such as race, mother's education, neighborhood quality and cognitive ability.
 
Fundamental Conclusions
The authors make three fundamental conclusions:
1. Marriage is an important social good, associated with an impressively broad array of positive outcomes for children and adults alike.
2. Marriage is an important public good, associated with a range of economic, health, educational, and safety benefits that help local, state, and federal governments serve the common good.
3. The benefits of marriage extend to poor and minority communities, despite the fact that marriage is particularly fragile in these communities. 

Another key supporter of healthy marriages, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania), noted, “There are a number of important debates heating up about marriage, including whether we should redefine marriage. Before we consider changing what marriage means, we should look at what marriage is, what its benefits are, and why it is worth defending.”

Concerned Women for America (CWA) has actively supported the Healthy Marriage Initiative (HIM) since its introduction in 3/2005.  President Bush proposed $100 million for this priority in his 2006 budget [S. 667 in the Senate and H.R. 240 in the House]. 

The funding proposed in the Healthy Marriage Initiative will go toward marriage and relationship education, through: public advertising campaigns; high school programs; programs for unmarried pregnant women and unmarried expectant fathers; pre-marital training for engaged couples and others interested in marriage; training programs for married couples; divorce-reduction programs; marriage-mentoring programs; programs to reduce disadvantages for married couples in government aid programs, if offered in conjunction with any activity described above. [http://www.cwalac.org/article_285.shtml; http://www.americanvalues.org/html/r-wmm.html; 29Nov05, LifeSiteNews.com; Single copies $5.00 each; Institute for American Values 212.246.3942; Amelia Wigton, 29Nov05]