Put your money where your marriage is...

There's and interesting piece over at Alternet about a new book on the instituition of marriage. From the description it seems there are two main pointsl. Firstly that marriage as it is being sold today is a relatively new concept and many of the supposed "anti-marriage" concepts are also very old ones. Secondly that apart from all its pro-marriage rhetoric, the stupid white men dejour (aka the Republic party) area doing little, if anything to actually support the institution of marriage.

In fact, by my reading, the inference is that the massive decrease in marriage longevity (with divorce rates averaging 50% or more) has more to do with the increasing financial strains on the "economically challenged" majority, than with a decline in moral values or lack of faith in marriage as a fine institution. The author points out that up until 200 years ago marriage is most frequently entirely arranged, and more to the point arranged for maintainence, or acquisition of financial status. Now today with people in the west choosing partners for the most part on a free will basis, quite often with partial or even no support of either family network the financial strains of every day throw those of married life into harsh reality. Indeed isn't it said that one, if not the, most important factor in causing marital strain is money issues?

So in today's society where there is more often than not no free childcare from the grandparents, both partners are going out to work to earn a crust to keep their heads above the water and maybe a roof over their heads, and increasingly one or both partners is also trying to support children from another marriage - well is it any wonder divorce rates are through the roof? Yes, if anyone really wanted to put their support for marriage is then they should really be providing free childcare, fixing the heinous situation that has lead to 45 million Americans without any health insurance (thank you WalMart), and generally getting back to the situation where a family - even if its just the two of you - means something more than "a combined economic shopping entity united by credit card debt and cellphone bill".