Quantcast
The IFS Mothers and Fathers Appeal is live now!

10 Reasons to Put Marriage Before Your Baby Carriage

Highlights

  1. Despite the increasing popularity of cohabiting parenthood, cohabitation still doesn't measure up to marriage, especially for children. Post This
  2. There’s still no better way than marriage to lock in the commitment that makes it easier to weather the stresses of raising junior. Post This

The share of parents who are cohabiting is on the rise, according to a new Pew study, with 1-in-4 kids now born to cohabiting couples. Despite the increasing popularity of cohabiting parenthood, cohabitation doesn't measure up to marriage, especially for children. Here are 10 reasons to buck the cohabiting parenthood trend—for your kids’ sake:

1. There’s still no better way to lock in the commitment that makes it easier to weather the stresses of raising junior, than tying the knot in front of your family and friends before junior arrives.


Source: thecurryfamily.tumblr.com via Giphy

2. When you’re raising kids, you definitely don’t want to deal with the extra relationship drama like infidelity and domestic violence associated with cohabiting.


Source: Majid Jordan via Giphy

3. You're also much more likely to take the long-term financial view and to save and invest more if you get and stay married.


Source: Mighty Oak via Giphy

4. Speaking of money, you and your kids are less likely to experience poverty within marriage.


Source: RocketJump via Giphy

5. Your kids are also a lot less likely to toke up if you’re married to their mother/father.


Source: Elite Daily via Giphy

6. And your kids are less than half as likely to struggle in school and end up with one of these:


Source: simpsonworld.com via Giphy

7. Oh, yeah, and they are less likely to be depressed if mom and dad are married.


Source: VideoBook via Giphy

8. In fact, getting married halves the odds that you and your parenting co-pilot will call it quits.


Source: taylorswift.com via Giphy

9. Indeed, for men, you are significantly more likely to enjoy a close and stable relationship with your children—if you get and stay married to their mother.


Source: NBC/This Is Us via Giphy

10. So, before you have kids, in the immortal words of Beyonce:


Source: theglossdot.com via Giphy

W. Bradford Wilcox is a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Family Studies and Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. Alysse ElHage is Editor of the Institute for Family Studies blog.

Marriage and family in America are in trouble.
Matchmaking by algorithm. Plunging birthrates. Screen-addled kids.
But all is not lost, and YOU can help turn the tide.
Your support is urgently needed to rebuild a strong marriage and family culture in America with IFS.
The IFS Mothers and Fathers Appeal needs to raise $25,000 from 50 new supporters before June 16.
Will you join us?
Make My Gift
Sign up for our mailing list to receive ongoing updates from IFS.
Join The IFS Mailing List

Contact

Interested in learning more about the work of the Institute for Family Studies? Please feel free to contact us by using your preferred method detailed below.
 

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 1502
Charlottesville, VA 22902

(434) 260-1048

info@ifstudies.org

Media Inquiries

For media inquiries, contact Chris Bullivant (chris@ifstudies.org).

We encourage members of the media interested in learning more about the people and projects behind the work of the Institute for Family Studies to get started by perusing our "Media Kit" materials.

Media Kit

IFS needs YOU
Our Mothers and Fathers Appeal seeks $25,000 from 50 supporters before June 16.
Can IFS count on you?
Make My Gift