Marriage changes couples’ relation to each other and relationships
with the outside world
Changes the way you are treated by the world
Benefits of marriage
Promise of permanence
o
Cohabitation is not the same as marriage
Specialization
o
Pick what you want to do in relationship
Example
Cleaning, cooking, yard work
o
As relationship progresses becomes more specialized
o
Men benefit more from this
Example
Women’s’ house work increases
o
More efficient way of living
Married couples are more efficient
Drawback- breakups are harder
Joint resources
Two cost less than one and one
Someone to take care of you and support you
Improves mental and physical health
Reforming men
o
Aren’t doing stupid things anymore
Improving women’s finances
o
Case against promoting marriage
Selection efects
Do we know that people who don’t get married would accrue
the same benefits as those who do so now?
Controlling for demographics is not enough
Are the positives limited to happy marriages?
Only 1 in 4 couples who are married 10 years later are still
happy
Are other types of life styles happily lived, as good as marriages?
o
Stress communication and Health
Temporary assistance of needy families
Bush signed Deficit Reduction Act which funded TANF
100 million dollars per year was earmarked for improving
marital outcomes in low income families
The program assumption
Child better of with 2 parents married parents
Increase healthy marriages among low-income parents
Government has a role in influencing parent’s marital
behaviors
Child will be better of with married parents
Step parents are more likely to abuse
o
Not common but more likely
Issues in foster care system
Children benefit in stable environments
o
Biological is just one way
Looking a low income families and minority population
Why are these groups not getting married?
o
Money
Woman doesn’t want to support male
o
Prospective mates aren’t eligible
o
Want to maintain control
o
Do not trust men in their lives
o
Low income women put emphasis on marriage
Don’t need convincing
Because they value marriage they aren’t getting married
Want it to work
o
STRESS
Making it hard on low income families to have successful marriages
and families
Causes fight vs flight
Poverty is a HUGE stressor
Chronic stressor
o
It is always there
o
Stress gives rise in relationship issues
Stress draws attention away from relationship
High levels of daily stress predict
Less responsive
Fewer family activities
Less sex
o
Stress hinders Constructive Responses to relationship issues
Harder to have self-control
We no talk good under stress
More negative attribution
Simply having good relationships skills may not be enough to protect
marriages from stress
Challenges traditional stress bufering models of relationship
skills
o
Example- military families
o
Social Support and health
Social support
The existence of social relationships
The structure of one’s social networks
Perceived and received support
Good social relationships (supportive) is a good as stopping smoking
for decreasing mortality rate
