New Cohabitation Research from UK = More Debate - 4/26/10

[Smartmarriages]

- MORE FODDER FOR THE COHABITATION DEBATES
- WHY CHILDREN THRIVE WITH MARRIED PARENTS
- COHABITATION WEBINAR MAY 27TH
- DATING AND COHABITING COUPLES WORKSHOP

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- MORE FODDER FOR THE COHABITATION DEBATES

The media in Great Britain is in an uproar about new research that compares
child outcomes in married vs cohabiting families. The uproar, in large part
Is because their general election includes a proposal by the Conservative
Tory party to provide tax breaks for married couples which the Labour party
Charges are discriminatory against single parents, widows, etc.

As with most research, it seems much is still up to interpretation. That
kids do better with married parents is established fact, but interpretation
is along the lines of the chicken and the egg. Which comes first?  Are those
who tend to marry more stable, educated, wealthier, etc OR does marriage
lead to more stability, wealth and well-being.  OR, is it a bit of both?
And, in that case, since marriage leads to more stability/well-being,
doesn't it make sense to encourage/support marriage especially if you take
the long view - since children of married parents are more likely to,
themselves, marry.  A long-range policy to rebuild the village. And, so the
debates go.   
  
Here's the Research Press release:
Encouraging parents to marry unlikely to lead to significant improvements in
young children's outcomes

It is well known that children born to married parents achieve better
outcomes, on average, both at school and in terms of their social and
emotional development, than children born into other family forms, including
into cohabiting unions. This Commentary documents in some detail how
children's cognitive and social development differs between married and
cohabiting parents, and provides a preliminary assessment of the extent to
which such differences might be due to a causal effect of marriage itself.
In so doing, it aims to inform a policy debate on the merits of encouraging
individuals to enter marriage before they bear children, which has
intensified in the run-up to the forthcoming general election.
And you can click her for a pdf of the full report:
http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/4823

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And, here's the Daily Mail's version:

- WHY CHILDREN THRIVE WITH MARRIED PARENTS
The Daily Mail 
By Steve Doughty 
20th April 2010

Children are more likely to thrive if their parents are married, a respected
think-tank said yesterday.

It found the most important factor in a child's development is their
parents' background, including their ethnicity, education, social status,
wealth and relationship history.

And it is couples who are wealthier, healthier and better educated who are
more likely to get married.
 
Cohabiting couples tended to be less educated, younger, had a lower
household income than married parents, and the quality and stability of
their relationship also differed, it added.

A child's success in life is a result of ' differences in the sort of
parents who decide to get married rather than to cohabit,' the independent
Institute for Fiscal Studies said.

Its report, by researchers Alissa Goodman and Ellen Greaves, was based on
the Millennium Cohort Study, which has followed the lives of 20,000 children
since they were born in 2000. The findings are likely to be a blow to the
Tories, who have promised tax breaks for married couples in the belief that
it is marriage itself that makes children thrive.

But the IFS report claims that children who fare better had parents who
would marry anyway.

Although academics, researchers and statisticians acknowledge children with
married parents are healthier, do better at school and are less likely to
fall into crime, drug abuse and early pregnancy, there is little agreement
about WHY this should be the case.

Advocates of marriage say that the legal contract and its public status mean
couples are more likely to work harder through any problems for the benefit
of each other and their children.

There is also little consensus over whether it is money that makes people
marry or it is those who marry who become better off. All political parties
have said they accept it is better for children if their parents stay
together rather than break up. . . .


. . . Marital partnerships were more stable, even when other factors were
taken into account,' the researchers said after examining national census
results. 

Its report said people were less likely to have stayed with the same partner
for a decade if they were younger, had no children, had a debilitating
illness, had been through broken relationships before, and had a poor
education, were from a low social class, or were jobless.

But it added: 'Marriage remains more stable than cohabitation after
controlling for individual factors.'

FOR THE FULL Daily Mail article: http://tinyurl.com/27aohzz

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- COHABITATION WEBINAR MAY 27TH
I'm sure this new research will add sparks to the Cohabitation Experts
webinar announced yesterday:
http://tinyurl.com/2bj633k
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- DATING AND COHABITING COUPLES WORKSHOP: THE UPDATE

> 303 - Friday, July 9, Orlando Smart Marriages Conference
> Dating and Cohabiting Couples
> Scott Stanley, PhD, Galena Rhoades, PhD
> THE LATEST RESEARCH on relationship formation and
> commitment identifies the most effective ways to
> recruit and work with dating and cohabiting couples
> and singles to impact their future marital success.

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