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Title: The Case for Marriage: Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially by Linda Waite ISBN: 0-7679-0632-2 Publisher: Broadway Books Pub. Date: 09 October, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.55 (22 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Sex in the Suburbs?
Comment: Although we are watching "Sex in the City," we should be reading "The Case for Marriage." Based on sound social theory and overwhelming empirical evidence, Waite and Gallagher remind us that marriage is a vital social institution that needs our support to make us better off individually and collectively.
The authors debunk many myths about marriage to reveal that married people report being happier overall and more satisfied with their sex lives. Married persons also earn more, are in better physical and mental health, and have more well-adjusted and successful children. Waite and Gallagher explain the how and why for these results by translating social science theories into layman's terms and weaving in illustrative anecdotes from research interviews.
While 93% of Americans rank "having a happy marriage" as a priority, sadly, we are increasingly pessimistic about our chances of achieving that goal. Most of us are either scared by divorce statistics, lack healthy marriage role models, or don't fully understand the benefits of marriage, among other reasons. This fear also translates into an unfortunate self-fulfilling prophesy of failure. By entering into marriage fearing divorce, if we are even willing to make the leap, we do not make the investments required to produce successful marriages.
To address the challenges for healthy and lasting marriages, the authors make specific recommendations to policymakers, religious leaders, researchers, and anyone touched by marriage as to how to build a more "marriage-friendly America." They are careful not to invoke any particular political or religious ideology. They simply examine the evidence to provide what they perceive to be the logical next steps. Perhaps readers will come up with additional suggestions.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Must Read for all Adults
Comment: "The Case for Marriage" was an excellent book which discussed the key advantages both men and women receive when they get married. Everything is discussed here. And what I really like is that the authors kept this non-partisan. (There is guilt on both sides of the political aisle. Conservatives forget that the first two governers to sign "no-fault" divorse into law were Ronald Reagan in California & Nelson Rockefeller in New York). What it appears is that the both the ease of divorse (via "no-fault" divorse laws) and public acceptance of cohabitation, etc. have caused an erosion of the sanctity of marriage. If single people have the same public advantages as married people, why get married? The authors use statistics and common sense to demonstate why marriage is in our own public best interest. Most importantly, the book discusses how beneficial marriage is for children. Please read this book to reinforce what is good about your marriage (which is what I did), if you are thinking of getting married, or especially if you are contemplating divorse. God Bless.
Rating: 4
Summary: Does marriage cause the positives or would they occur anyway
Comment: First, I must admit that I really admire the scope of this book. It covers many bases, and reviews the literature on both men and women; many books on marriage cover only one gender when it comes to the research on marriage, and then pit men and women against each other. There is a caveat to this research, however, that anyone reading this book should think about. It is very difficult in social science research to prove that one variable "causes" a change in other variables. In this case, the authors try to prove that marriage "causes" people to be happier, healthier, live longer, have better sex, etc. etc. Yet, there is no way of measuring for selection bias: people who are physically and mentally healthier (and therefore happier and more likely to succeed financially anyway) may be more likely to marry in the first place because they are more attractive in the marriage market. For example, some research on whether individuals are likely to desist in crime commission if they marry looks at whether the spouse also engages in crime. The variables in Waite's book may be related to each other, but not necessarily in a causation model as she claims.
I still give the book four stars because it demonstrates how social science can be used to inform the general public, and it is a well-written review of the literature. If Waite and Gallagher had been more honest about their results (in terms of not misleading with the statistics), I would have given it five stars.
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Title: Why Marriage Matters: Reasons to Believe in Marriage in a Postmodern Society by Glenn T. Stanton ISBN: 1576830187 Publisher: Navpress Publishing Group Pub. Date: 01 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce : The 25 Year Landmark Study by Judith S. Wallerstein, Julia Lewis, Sandra Blakeslee ISBN: 0786886161 Publisher: Hyperion Pub. Date: 19 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Life Without Father: Compelling New Evidence That Fatherhood and Marriage Are Indispensable for the Good of Children and Society by David Popenoe ISBN: 0674532600 Publisher: Harvard University Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The Divorce Culture: Rethinking Our Commitments to Marriage and Family by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead ISBN: 0679751688 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 February, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Case Against Divorce by Diane Medved ISBN: 0804106339 Publisher: Ivy Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1993 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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