Trends Relating to Marriage and Family

There are many trends taking place in our society today very much relate to marriage and family relations. Many of them would not come to you as a surprise, however it is important to understand the effect of these trends. I would like to touch on a few, namely: cohabitation, premarital sex, and births to unmarried women.

More than 6.1 million unmarried couples currently live together (U.S. Census Bureau 2010). Cohabitation is a dramatic upward trend, that most likely does not come a surprise to you. Many of these couples use cohabitation as a way to find out if they could be successful marriage partners. To those part of the trend this may seem like a grand idea, I disagree. One of the main problems that I see is the lack of commitment, all the while receiving some of the benefits of a legal marriage. Living together unmarried, means at any bump in the road, you can just call it quits. Cohabitation also connects with the other trends I will discuss, especially that of premarital sex.

Along with cohabitation, premarital sex is on an upward trend, and the two go hand in hand. Once again not surprising, but it's a sad trend. In our world sex is all about the individual, rather than the couple. Unmarried people seek only the physical feelings associated with sex, thus forgetting it as a way to express ultimate love for one's companion. Premarital and casual sex, make a beautiful act meaningless.

Interconnected with premarital sex is the upward trend of births to unmarried women. By 2007. 39.7 percent of all births were to unmarried women (Federal Interagency Forum on child and Family Statistics 2010). Now that is a number that stood out to me. Studies have shown time, and time again that children born into a home with two married parents are far better off than those born into a single parent home. The effect on these children is great.

So maybe I am just an old fashioned guy with old fashioned values. Maybe I should get with the times and accept the trends of our society. I will not. There may be any number of reasons to justify cohabitation, premarital sex, and having children outside of marriage, but this does not make it right. Families are being attacked, and that is not a good thing. The future of our world depends on strong, healthy families. These trends are a threat to family life. We need to stand up for what is right, and defend family values. These dangerous trends must slow down.

Consider reading this proclamation. These are my family values.
The Family: A Proclamation to the World

Introduction

Hello! My name is Tod. I am a student at Brigham Young University-Idaho, studying psychology. Currently, I am enrolled in a Family Relations class, in which I will have to opportunity to blog about many of the things I will be learning. My hope is to provide the best information possible with respect to topics on the family. Feel free to leave comments, and ask questions, and we will learn together.