Category: Marriage/Family

The “no-kid” trend—that idea that a woman, to truly flourish and be free, should refrain from having children—has become, in France as elsewhere, a real mania. Young women publish an increasing number of essays, more or less inspired, in which they try to convince themselves and others that the world would be so much better if we did not reproduce.

Who is happy? What should you know about someone to predict their joyfulness? Does marital status predict happiness? It does, as sociologist Brad Wilcox amply documents in Get Married. Knowing that marriage matters, we can make marriage-supporting choices.

Imagine if couples were willing to give up some of the good things in their marriage to let the better things thrive — and if they said goodbye to the activities that take resources from their relationship. I recently found myself engrossed in an episode of Hoarders. If you are not familiar with this show, Hoarders lets you see in great detail the struggles of people who . . . well, hoard. Up close and personal, viewers witness what happens to people’s lives, families, health, and spiritual well-being when they are beset by one basic problem: The inability to let go of stuff.

A recent study by the Institute for Family Studies and the Wheatley Institute reveals key factors that significantly enhance marital happiness among wives. The research indicates that four primary attributes in husbands – commitment, protectiveness, shared church attendance and regular date nights – lead to a much higher likelihood of wives reporting being “very happy” in their marriages.

Infidelity, mental illness, and financial pressures can spell the end to many marriages, but how do thriving couples overcome these threats? But many couples face at least some of these issues in a long-term marriage, and some couples manage to work through them. The main message is that couples who develop “together” approaches, rather than “individual” approaches, fare much better under stress.

“Humanity owes its survival to the choice women make not just to welcome children, but raise them to be virtuous and authentically human,” even though our world is turning a blind eye to their sacrifice. “The great contribution of women to the welfare of the family and to the development of society [is] so far not fully recognized.” Will it ever be?

Much attention has been paid to the criminal justice system in the United States and the need for reform. Yet there is a dearth of information about the well-being of children of incarcerated men and women.

Since the U.S. housing affordability crisis facing young adults is largely policy-induced, we propose a wide range of policy fixes for every level of government.

We know the Success Sequence has real economic value for young adults and families, but it’s also valuable for the emotional and family well-being of young men and women today, according to research by Wendy Wang and Samuel Wilkinson.