Current approaches to marriage and relationship research in the United States and Australia

 

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Content type
Family Matters article
Published

March 2005

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the decline in marriage rates over the past 30 years, arguments about the undermining of the institution of marriage and, in particular, with the relevance to Australia of the approach of Linda Waite, a family sociologist, and Maggie Gallagher, a journalist, in their book, The Case for Marriage. They wrote their book in response to what they saw as an attack on the institution of marriage, and compiled evidence to show that marriage conferred a number of benefits to the spouses. This article addresses the questions of whether married Australians are better off than their non married counterparts and if there are any differences between married and non married people, are they attributable directly to the institution of marriage.

This paper is concerned with the decline in marriage rates over the past 30 years, arguments about the undermining of the institution of marriage and, in particular, with the relevance to Australia of the approach of Linda Waite, a family sociologist, and Maggie Gallagher, a journalist, in their book, The Case for Marriage. They wrote their book in response to what they saw as an attack on the institution of marriage, and compiled evidence to show that marriage conferred a number of benefits to the spouses. This article addresses the questions of whether married Australians are better off than their non married counterparts and if there are any differences between married and non married people, are they attributable directly to the institution of marriage.

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