A new study has found that, despite all the conservative hand-wringing over the decline in marriage, most couples who live together before marriage eventually get married. Two-thirds of marriages last 10 years, though that depends a lot on the couple:
The factors that determine whether a marriage lasts have stayed the same over the past decade. You're more likely to hit the 10-year mark if you marry someone much like you: similar in race, background and education; if you're over 26; if you are college educated, with at least a bachelor's degree; and if you have a child during the marriage.
Whether you have a college degree also makes a big difference on your income level, and apparently maturity matters despite all exhortations to the contrary.
Lately, there have been a number of articles on marriage and women, particularly black women, as if the behavior of the American couple were fodder for a Discovery-channel nature show. But people don't get married because they're enacting some sort of population plan. They get married and stay married when they're happy, mature, and meet someone with whom they have something in common. To the extent that policy is aimed at marriage, maybe we should worry about improving everyone's quality of life first.
-- Monica Potts
