The State of Marriage Today
Is there something seriously wrong with marriage today? During the past 50 years，the rate of divorce in the United States has exploded：almost 50％of marriages end in divorce now, and the evidence suggests it is going to get worse．___1___Some futurists predict that in l 00 years，the average American will marry at least four times and extramarital affairs will be even more common than they are now．But what are the reasons for this，and is the picture really so gloomy? The answer to the first question is really quite simple：marriage is no longer the necessity it once was．___2__Women used to be economically dependent on their husbands as they usually didn’t have jobs outside the home．But with the rising number of women in well—paying jobs，this is no longer the case，so they don’t feel that they need to stay in a failing marriage．_____3___While the rate of divorce has risen，the rate of couples marrying has never actually fallen very much，so marriage is still quite popular．In addition to this，many couples now cohabit and don’t bother to marry．These couples are effectively married，but they do not appear in either the marriage or divorce statistics．____4___The statistics are deceptive because there is a higher number of divorces in second and third marriages than in first marriages．So is marriage really an outdated institution? ___5___And it is also true that married couples have a healthier life than single people：they suffer less from stress and its consequences，such as heart problems，and married men generally consider themselves more contented than their single counterparts．Perhaps the key is to find out what makes a successful marriage and apply it to all of our relationships!

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