A Report from Family Scholars

A Report from Family Scholars

Why Marriage Matters, Third Edition

Thirty Conclusions from the Social Sciences

Institute for American Values

National Marriage Project

T

HIS STATEMENT

comes from a team of family scholars chaired by

W. Bradford Wilcox of the University of Virginia. The statement is sponsored by the Center for Marriage and Families at

the Institute for American Values and the National Marriage Project at

the University of Virginia. The sponsors are grateful to The Lynde and

Harry Bradley Foundation, The William H. Donner Foundation, and

Fieldstead and Company for their generous support.

On the cover: Woman Writing List That

? 2011, Institute for American Values.

Binds Two Hearts by Bonnie Timmons.

No reproduction of the materials con-

? Bonnie Timmons/The Image Bank/

tained herein is permitted without the

Getty Images.

written permission of the Institute for

American Values.

First edition published 2002. Second edition 2005. Third edition published 2011.

ISBN #978-1-931764-24-7

Institute for American Values

1841 Broadway, Suite 211

New York, NY 10023

Tel: (212) 246-3942

Fax: (212) 541-6665

Website:

Email: info@

Table of Contents

The Authors............................................................................................. 4

Introduction............................................................................................. 6

Five New Themes............................................................................. 7

A Word about Selection Effects........................................................ 9

Our Fundamental Conclusions........................................................ 11

The Thirty Conclusions: A Snapshot...................................................... 12

The Thirty Conclusions........................................................................... 14

Family................................................................................................ 14

Economics......................................................................................... 23

Physical Health and Longevity......................................................... 28

Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being........................................ 33

Crime and Domestic Violence.......................................................... 37

Conclusion............................................................................................... 42

Appendix: Figures................................................................................... 44

Endnotes.................................................................................................. 47

The Authors

W. BRADFORD WILCOX is associate professor of sociology and director of

the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia.

JARED R. ANDERSON is assistant professor of marriage and family therapy

at Kansas State University.

WILLIAM DOHERTY is professor of family social science and director of

the Citizen Professional Center at the University of Minnesota.

DAVID EGGEBEEN is associate professor of human development and sociology at Pennsylvania State University.

CHRISTOPHER G. ELLISON is the Dean¡¯s Distinguished Professor of Social

Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

WILLIAM GALSTON is Ezra K. Zilkha Chair and Senior Fellow in

Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution.

NEIL GILBERT is Chernin Professor of Social Welfare and co-director of

the Center for Child and Youth Policy at the University of California at

Berkeley.

JOHN GOTTMAN is professor emeritus of psychology at the University of

Washington.

RON HASKINS is a senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program and codirector of the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings

Institution, and a senior consultant at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

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ROBERT I. LERMAN is an institute fellow at the Urban Institute and professor of economics at American University.

LINDA MALONE-COL?N is chair of the Department of Psychology and

executive director of the National Center on African American Marriages

and Parenting at Hampton University.

LOREN MARKS holds the Kathryn Norwood and Claude Fussell Alumni

Professorship and is associate professor of family studies at Louisiana

State University.

ROB PALKOVITZ is professor of human development and family studies

at the University of Delaware.

DAVID POPENOE is professor emeritus of sociology at Rutgers

University.

MARK D. REGNERUS is associate professor of sociology at the University

of Texas at Austin.

SCOTT STANLEY is a research professor and co-director of the Center for

Marital and Family Studies at the University of Denver.

LINDA WAITE is the Lucy Flower Professor of Sociology at the University

of Chicago.

JUDITH WALLERSTEIN is senior lecturer emerita at the School of Social

Welfare at the University of California at Berkeley.

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