Easy Divorce Laws Contribute to Marriage Decline

Written by Emily Schatz

Family scholars at the National Marriage Project and the Institute for American Values highlight a large-scale “exodus from marriage” among young Americans with high school but no college education: a staggering 44 percent of their children are being born outside marriage. Because having married biological parents remains the single best predictor of children’s well-being and success(1), the authors of the latest “State of Our Unions” report ask policymakers to act to revive working-class marriage.

Their proposals include “eliminating marriage penalties and disincentives for the poor, unwed mothers, and older Americans; tripling the child tax credit…ending anonymous fatherhood…[and] preventing unnecessary divorce.” How should such proposals figure in New Jersey?

Some voices insist that letting same-sex couples marry would boost the marriage culture. Experience suggests not. In countries that have redefined marriage this way, homosexuals have not only not rushed into matrimony, but marriage rates have declined overall. It is not a figment of conservative alarmism to think same-sex unions would change the very meaning of marriage; prominent same-sex advocates(2) have recommended it themselves.(3)

Honoring historic definitions is the merest baseline for reviving marriage. Tax incentives and education are important, as is ending the unethical practice of anonymous sperm donation. But we simply must reform our divorce laws. Contrary to current premises, it is not “no one’s fault” when a marriage ends—as if a marriage could end invisibly in the spiritual realm before it ended in the eyes of the law. Marriages end when people end them. For everyone’s sake, especially children’s, couples should not be permitted to split willy-nilly. Taking precautions for domestic abuse, New Jersey’s lawmakers should take notice that many couples are open to reconciliation even after filing divorce papers. Instating waiting periods, marriage counseling, and fault-based divorce requirements would go miles toward stabilizing families and elevating marriage.

What of commitment issues among young people who choose to have children while cohabiting over waiting to marry? David and Amber Lapp, researchers of the Love and Marriage in Middle America project, write that “marriage exists to safeguard what working-class young adults hold dear: love and family…Anyone who doubts the effectiveness of…morally muscular [emphasis on commitment] among working-class young adults should consider how so many…of the same population join the military…The challenge is to show [them] that marriage is also an invitation to such sacrifice.”(4)