Why do you believe in marriage?

Chajay Wise is an amazing woman who is passionate about helping women embrace their role as a mom and wife with integrity and creativity.  She is the mother to 4 beautiful children and is married to her college sweetheart, Darius. The couple has been married 10 years.

 

 

Why Do You Believe In Marriage? by Chajay Wise

Marriage, the union of one man and one woman, I’ve been told could be the closes thing to heaven or hell on earth:)!  And being married for 10 years, I can truly say that I agree with that statement (we’ve had much more heaven than hell, for sure:)! Marriage can be a beautiful thing when both parties agree to make it the best experience for the other and that’s the reason… “Why I Believe In Marriage”.

Today couples choose to get married for so many different reasons. Some to be happy, and others to not be lonely, but there are many benefits to being married. In fact, there are 1,138 benefits, rights and protections provided on the basis of marital status in Federal law alone.

Here are some of my favorites not associated with the law! 🙂

Marriage & Health

• On average, husbands and wives are healthier, happier and enjoy longer lives than those who are not married.

• Men appear to reap the most physical health benefits from marriage and suffer the greatest health consequences if they divorce.

• Married mothers have lower rates of depression than single or cohabiting mothers, probably because they are more likely to receive practical and emotional support from their child’s father and his family.

Marriage & Wealth

• Married couples build more wealth on average than singles or cohabiting couples.

• Marriage offers men the kind of stability and support that allows him to succeed in all aspects of life.

• Married women are economically better off than divorced, cohabiting or never-married women.

Marriage & Children

Children raised by their own married mother and father are:

• More likely to stay in school, have fewer behavioral and attendance problems, and earn four-year college degrees

• Less vulnerable to serious emotional illness, depression and suicide

• More likely to have positive attitudes towards marriage and greater success in forming lasting marriages

Marriage and Society

• The institution of marriage reliably creates the social, economic and affective conditions for effective parenting.

• Being married changes people’s lifestyles and habits in ways that are personally and socially beneficial. Marriage makes you a better person.

• Marriage generates social capital. The social bonds created through marriage yield benefits not only for the family but for others as well, including the larger society.

So there you have it! Marriage is more than paperwork. It is a long-term investment in one person, building deep abiding love, with amazing benefits, that should last for a life time (Can I get an Amen;). Alright, I want to hear from you… Why Do You Believe In Marriage?? I would love to hear some of the benefits you experience in your marriage…

Sources: Why Marriage Matters: Twenty-Six Conclusions from the Social Sciences (Institute for American Values); Healthy Marriages, Healthy Lives: Research on the Alignment of Health, Marital Outcomes and Marriage Education (California Healthy Marriages Coalition); Testimony of Dr. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, National Marriage Project, before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Children. This article was adapted from foryourmarriage.org

 

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