Free Republic

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) - The divorce rate in the United States is falling, and a new study offers an explanation: More people are shacking up instead of getting married. In a report released Tuesday, the co-directors of the National Marriage Project, a nonpartisan institute at Rutgers University that promotes marriage, said couples who get married are more committed to each other than those who are just live together. The study analyzed data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau and other researchers. Nine of every 1,000 married women in the United States divorced in 1960, according to the study. The...

Marriage is becoming increasingly uncommon in Scandinavian countries such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark, say observers. Unlike America, marriage is widely seen as an inconvenience across Scandinavia, providing very few benefits -- social or economic -- and imposing too large a commitment on families. Observers say advances in birth control, the rise of feminism, and the decline of religion have all contributed to the increase in cohabitation and out-of-wedlock births: In Norway, half of all children are now born to unmarried mothers. In Sweden, about 56 percent of all children are illegitimate. In Denmark, nearly 45 percent of all children...

<p>New York Giants second-round draft pick Chris Snee and coach Tom Coughlin's daughter had a child last fall, the team disclosed hours after picking the Boston College guard.</p> <p>Snee and Katie Coughlin are not married, but together they are raising the boy, Dylan.</p>

<p>IN THE Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's dueling opinions on same-sex marriage, each side places the burden of proof on the other. The majority in the Goodridge decision insists there is "no rational reason" for defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The minority chides the majority for its "blind faith" that there are no potential dangers to so radical a change. Both sides lack evidence on the real-world effects of same-sex marriage. Yet evidence is in. Marriage is dying in Scandinavia, which has had marriage-like same-sex registered partnerships for over a decade.</p>

CBS Television is promoting tonight's debut of "The Amazing Race 4" by proudly proclaiming a male homosexual couple on the show to be married to each other. The primetime reality show features 12 teams of two people with a pre-existing relationship racing around the world in a quest for a million-dollar prize. 'Married' male couple on CBS In current promotional ads on the air, the network touts one of the teams – consisting of two men – as ''The Married Couple.'' "Yes, they are a married, gay couple," a CBS spokeswoman tells WorldNetDaily. "They're married and they're gay. Is there...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Couples who decide to live together before getting married are now more commonplace than those who choose to marry before sharing a residence, said Dorian Solot, co-author of the book Unmarried to Each Other: The Essential Guide to Living Together as an Unmarried Couple. The book, co-written by Solot's partner Marshall Miller, explores the issues surrounding cohabiting couples and alternative families. According to Solot and Miller's statistics, two in every five college-age people cohabit. Jessica Dobrowolski (senior-geographic information science) is among those who gave cohabitation a try. "It causes a lot...