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A long-term first marriage is a new status symbol

A long-term first marriage is a new status symbol. Wall Street Journal (29 April 1999). MALTA’S MARRIAGES are still much STRONGER. BUT MARRIAGE BREAKDOWN IS ON THE INCREASE. SEPARATED / DIVORCED PERSONS. All surveys report that people from

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A long-term first marriage is a new status symbol

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  1. A long-term first marriage is a new status symbol Wall Street Journal (29 April 1999)

  2. MALTA’S MARRIAGES are still much STRONGER BUT MARRIAGE BREAKDOWN IS ON THE INCREASE SEPARATED / DIVORCED PERSONS

  3. All surveys report that people from western countries still believe that a happy marriage is theirnumber one goal

  4. In MARRIAGE, all involved, men and women, children and society, benefit when compared to COHABITATION: HEALTHIER WEALTHIER MORE SUCCESSFUL BETTER SEXUAL SATISFACTION Linda J. Waite, Evelyn L. Lehrer, The benefits from Marriage and Religion in the United States: a Comparative Analysis, in Population and Development Review(June 2003) Edward O. Laumann et al., The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States(University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1994)

  5. MARRIED men and women • happier • better emotional and physical health • live longer • suffer less long-term illness • better survival rates from illness than COHABITING Linda J. Waite, Evelyn L. Lehrer Nadine F. Marks and James D. Lambert, MaritalStatus Continuity and Change Among Young and Midlife Adults, inJournal of Family Issues19 (November 1998): 652-686 Catherine E. Ross et al., The Impact of the Family on Health: The Decade in Review, inJournal of Marriage and the Family52 (November 1990): 1059-1078

  6. What aboutMaltese couples? NSO Lifestyle 2007:most persons in current relationships enjoy a good level of satisfaction

  7. Getting married and staying married to the same person, is associated with better mental health Linda J. Waite, Evelyn L. Lehrer

  8. Confirmed locally recently European Health Interview Survey (Malta) 2008 WIDOWED, DIVORCED / SEPARATED Risk feeling anxiety more than MARRIED or SINGLE

  9. WHY? Both marriage and religion lead to positive outcomes by providing social support and integration They also encourage healthy behaviour patterns and lifestyles Linda J. Waite, Evelyn L. Lehrer

  10. Both divorce and cohabitation significantly reduce these positive effects

  11. Never-married, cohabiting, separated and divorced WOMEN experience higher rates of domestic violence than their married counterparts Sonia Miner Salari and Bret M. Baldwin, Verbal, Physical, and Injurious Aggression Among Intimate Couples Over Time, inJournal of Family Issues23 (May 2002): 523-550 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Intimate Partner Violence, National Crime Victimization Survey (May 2000): 4-5, 11

  12. Cohabitation in Malta NSO Lifestyle 2003:

  13. CHILDREN Marriage is a safer and better place when compared to other situations like single parenthood or reconstituted relationships

  14. They are less likely to be aborted and less likely to be abused or neglected The Alan Guttmacher Institute, Trends in Abortion in the United States, 1973-2000(January 2003) Andrea J. Sedilak and Dinae D. Broadhurst, The Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1996):xviii, 5-19

  15. Compared to children in single-parent families, children raised by married parents have better emotional and physical health J. Kelleher, et al., Increasing Identification of Psychosocial Problems: 1979-1996, inPediatrics 105 (June 2000): 1313-1321 Deborah A. Dawson, Family Structure and Children’s Health and Well-Being: Data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey on Child Health, inJournal of Marriage and the Family 53 (August 1991): 573-584

  16. They also perform better academically and fare better economically Elizabeth Thomson et al., Family Structure and Child Well-Being: Economic Resources vs. Parental Behaviors, inSocial Forces 73 (September 1994): 221-242

  17. Classified as “POOR” John Haskey, National Office of Statistics (UK),as reported in The Telegraph (December 12, 2003)

  18. Children living with married parentsengage in fewer risky behaviour, such as... • skipping school • premarital sex • substance abuse • delinquency • suicide John S. Santelli et al., The Association of Sexual Behaviors with Socioeconomic Status, Family Structure, and Race/Ethnicity Among U.S. Adolescents, inAmerican Journal of Public Health 90 (October 2000): 1582-1588 John P. Hoffman and Robert A. Johnson, A National Portrait of Family Structure and Adolescent Drug Use, inJournal of Marriage and the Family 60 (August 1998): 633-645

  19. Thesepositive trendslast further throughout their adult life In fact these children are... • less likely to cohabit • more likely to view marriage positively • maintain life-long marriages Paul R. Amato and Danelle D. DeBoer, The Transmission of Marital Instability Across Generations: Relationship Skills or Commitment to Marriage?inJournal of Marriage and Family 63 (November 2001): 1038-1051 Katherine Trent and Scott J. South,Sociodemographic Status, Parental Background, Childhood Family Structure, and Attitudes Toward Family Formation, inJournal of Marriage and the Family 54 (May 1992): 427-439

  20. BETTER FOR SOCIETY MARRIED COUPLES • more productive and committed • sustain businesses and economy • less dependency on welfare • less domestic violence • less child abuse Corey L.M. Keyes, The Mental Health Continuum: From Languishing to Flourishing in Life, inJournal of Health and Social Behavior 43 (2002): 207-222 (cited in The Family in America New Research, Oct 2002) U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Poverty Tables, Table 4 June O’Neill and M. Anne Hill, Gaining Ground? Measuring the Impact of Welfare Reform on Welfare and Work, The Manhattan Institute, Civic Report 17

  21. Are these benefits lost JUST THE SAME through divorce, separation or annullment? YES and NO YES: for individual couples and their children NO: divorce has further consequences...

  22. “The introduction of no-fault divorce accounted for about 20 per cent (conservative estimates) of the increase • of divorce” Prof. L. Gonzales and T.K. Vittanen studied all legal reforms 1960-2002 in 18 European countries

  23. 2. Divorce affects marriage: • marriage rate DECREASES • cohabitation rate INCREASES • out-of-wedlock births INCREASE

  24. 3. Negative effects on children • during marital conflict and discord • separation • in every reconstituted relationship of parent “... most significant factor was the re-ordering of the family ... rather than serious conflict or violence in intact families that was associated with children’s poorer outcome” Monica Cockett,John Tripp,The Exeter Family Study – Family Breakdown and its Impact on Children (University of Exeter, 1996)

  25. Civil - Religious Marriage in Malta • civil marriages since 1975 increased • but analysis is needed • only those involving Maltese affect our society NSO provides 2004-2008 analysis by nationality

  26. CONVALIDATIONS

  27. VALUES ARE... True whether you think so or not Good whether they suit or interest us or not Just whether or not they run counter to what we immediately want Beautiful whether we happen to like them or not Sacred whether we are willing to recognise them or not Max Charlesworth, philosopher

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