The Benefits of Marriage to the Nation
Presented at the Marriage Summit - 18th September 2007
Parliament House Canberra,
by Chris Meney
September 2007
Let us consider for a moment the importance attributed to marriage as defined under
the Marriage Act (1961) and the Family Law Act (1975). These refer to the 'need to
protect the institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion
of all others voluntarily entered into for life'. Why do societies feel the need to
enshrine such understandings within legislation? What is so important about
marriage? How does marriage contribute to the social estate? What are the advantages
which result for individuals who are situated within a formal structure of family
relationships founded on marriage?
Marriage as a social institution supported by law and public policy in the service of
the common good has a number of important aspects. These pertain to marriage's
interpersonal dimension as well as to its procreative and nurturing functions. We
know that not all persons will use marriage in the correct way and to varying degrees
will neglect or reject some of its principle aspects. For some spouses fidelity and
commitment may not receive the attention and effort that is warranted. For others,
procreation will not be pursued and for some couples procreation will not be possible.
However, the manner in which marriage is codified in law and the way in which
societies develop social norms in support of marriage are both vitally important. This
is because marriage is a significant social good which contributes to the society in a
profound way. This remains true even though a society cannot possibly monitor all
the different ways in which individuals might choose to use or misuse 'marriage'.
An exploration of some of the promises made within a marriage ceremony may prove
useful in exploring the social capital that can be found within marriage:
"I take you to be my lawful wedded wife/husband' In 2000, High Court Chief Justice
Murray Gleeson commented that 'The modern law regulates marriage, and the
incidents of marriage, closely...Entering into marriage carries with it an obligation of
publicity...people who want to marry must publicly register their status. These
requirements of formality, exclusivity and publicity reflect a view of marriage,
derived from religious teaching. '
Public pronouncements of the marriage vow are important because although married
life is personal it is never private. Couples who marry participate as individuals and
also witness to something that is a part of a broader social institution. The state
demonstrates its public interest by attaching to marriage a range of entitlements, rights
and duties with respect to welfare, inheritance, the giving of evidence in court and the
care of children etc. As Barry Maley says in 'Family and Marriage in Australia'
(2001), "Such privileges and protections are incomprehensible and hard to justify
except as expressions of the public and private interest in securing not simply the
rights of the spouses as individuals, but also the integrity of the union between them
and the implications of that union for any children they might have and for society at
large".
All societies, from Graeco-Roman to modern, have recognised the importance of the
public face of marriage and have sort to lend marriage support. They have attempted
to codify its various aspects including the mutual responsibility of spouses for one
another, various property rights, the connection of spouses with their children and
their responsibility for them, inheritance rights etc. But it was not the case that
marriage became important as a social institution simply because it had a legal
context. Rather, legal frameworks came into being because heterosexual marriage was
seen to be of great importance to the society. Indeed marriage and family precede the
state. As Aristotle argued in his Nichomachean Ethics: "Man is by nature more
inclined to live as a couple than to associate politically, since the family is something
that precedes and is more necessary than the state"
"To have and to hold" The scope of this commitment encompasses both the
interpersonal relationship between the two spouses and the relationships of each with
any children which may result from their union. The relationship between the spouses
may be the cornerstone, but marriage involves more that the couple alone and its
effects are not the same as those which stem from simple cohabitation. Married
spouses are happier on average than cohabitating couples. Cohabiters report more
conflict, violence and lower levels of satisfaction and commitment than married
couples. Where children are involved the adverse effects are more widespread. Any
disruption of family units tends to be destructive of the relationships between children
and their parents. As adults, children from divorced parents are twice as likely to
report a poor relationship with their mother or their father. Similarly, children raised
in divorce situations see their fathers less and have a less affectionate relationship
with them when compared with fathers who remain in an unhappy marriage. Where
there is a significant diminishment in the quality of the relationships between parents
and their children, it is bad for society.
"For richer or poorer" The economic advantages to both the persons involved and to
the wider society when marriage is accepted as a desirable social norm are significant.
Historically, poverty has been the result of a lack of employment and poor income.
Today, it is increasingly the result of family structure. The consequence of parents
failing to marry and to stay married is that more children are likely to experience
poverty. One Australian study of 500 divorcees with young children revealed that
80% of those mothers were dependant on social security after 5 years and that they
sustained income losses of up to 26%. In contrast, marriage seems to create wealth.
This appears to be the result of factors beyond the simple effects of two incomes.
Marriages stimulate the growth of partnership and mutuality and result in productive
wealth accumulation through initiatives such as the purchasing of a home.
Intergenerational transfer of wealth from grandparents is more likely to eventuate
where couples are married compared with those who are cohabiting; single mothers
rarely receive financial assistance from a father's family. Although we continue to live
in a land of comparative opportunity, poverty in childhood still militates against
educational achievement and in general terms, this limits adult socioeconomic
achievement. As such, marriage has an important protective effect against
intergenerational poverty.
Marriage and family health also promote the economic wellbeing of the wider society.
The prominent sociologist Daniel Yankelovich commented on this as follows:
"There exists a deeply intuitive sense that the success of a market-based economy
depends on a highly developed social morality - trustworthiness, honesty, concern for
future generations, an ethic of service to others, a humane society that takes care of
those in need, frugality instead of greed, high standards of quality and concern for
community. These (are) economically desirable social values... (and) the link in
public thinking between a healthy family and a robust economy though indirect, is
clear and firm" .
"In sickness and in health" Any decline in health has personal, relational and social
consequences. The Journal of Marriage and Family (literature review,1990) described
the protective effects of marriage as follows: "Compared to married people, the nonmarried...have higher rates of mortality than the married: about 50% higher among
women and 250% higher among men" . Unmarried persons including the divorced,
widowed and singles, appear to be significantly more likely to become ill and die
from various heart diseases, pneumonia, cancer, cirrhosis of the liver as well as
experiencing premature death by car accident and suicide. A six year study of suicide
in NSW found that never-married men had (suicide) mortality levels 90% higher than
the standard rates and married men up to 43% below the standard rate. Another study
in the Australian Medical Journal revealed that married separated males are six times
more likely to commit suicide than married men. Australian research also shows that
in terms of mental health, married women have a significant level of benefit over
separated, widowed and divorced women. There is a substantial social burden which
results from the premature death and disablement of significant numbers of what
would otherwise have been capable and productive members of a community.
Marriage both preserves life and protects health. As the social researchers Linda
Waite and Maggie Gallagher comment, "Despite the fashionable tendency to regard
marriage as an institution of declining usefulness, the health gap between the married
and the non-married in developed countries is growing rather than narrowing" . Both
married men and married women feel healthier and are significantly less likely to
suffer from chronic illnesses or disabilities. Studies by Waite and others also confirm
that simply sharing a living space with someone else does not confer the same level of
protection as being married.
Marriage breakdown can also harm the general wellbeing of children by placing them
at greater risk of criminal behaviour and of abuse. A long term study of over 500
Australian children found that: "The relationship between cohabitation and
delinquency is beyond contention: children of cohabiting couples are more likely to
be found among offenders than children of married couples" . In addition, children
who live with step fathers or mother's boyfriends are more likely to suffer abuse. In
Australia, the Human Rights Commissioner Brian Burdekin stated that there was an
alarming 500-600% increase in abuse of girls in families where the adult male was not
the natural father.
All of this indicates that the overall health and wellbeing of both adults and children is
significantly enhanced when a man and woman opt to get married, to remain
committed to one another and to care for and raise any children of their union. Where
individual personal health and wellbeing is promoted, society benefits substantially in
both the immediate and longer term.
"To the exclusion of all others until death do us part" Why are things like fidelity and
permanency so important? If we want a snapshot of what is at the heart of marriage it
is worth looking at what are the two most overwhelming reasons why couples
divorce. A study by the anthropologist Laura Betzig reviewed 186 different societies
and found that the two reasons which stood out were firstly adultery and secondly,
sterility. These suggest that in a very real sense, for most people marriage is
intuitively about the intimacy of sexual union and about procreation. This means that
being faithful to one's spouse and not being promiscuous is a key part of what being
married means. Adultery is always frowned upon by the vast majority of people even
within what might otherwise be seen as quite liberal societies. Fidelity is regarded as a
social and moral 'ought' even if it is not a legal 'must'.
Fidelity and permanence contribute to marriage's fundamental character. They
balance notions of rights with an awareness of a person's duties to their spouse and to
the wider society. They reflect that marriage requires an exclusive and willing
commitment and that this is important at both the interpersonal and the broader
community level. Marriage may involve two persons in a relationship but it does not
follow that marriage means whatever those two persons choose it to mean as their
right. As Blankenhorn says in his book "The Future of Marriage": "Defining marriage
as a set of 'rights'... obscures the fact that the married spouses are not simply rightsbearing individuals in an interpersonal relationship, but are agents of society in a vital
social institution".
All societies construct various social frameworks to reinforce their beliefs. As with all
social institutions, marriage has attendant formal and informal constraints comprised
of various norms, conventions and codes of conduct and their enforcement
characteristics. This is because all flourishing societies realise that marriage is more
than a conditional agreement where both parties stay together as long as all their
needs and wants continue to be completely satisfied. Eric Fromm says in his work
'The Art of Loving', that "Love should be essentially an act of the will, of a decision
to commit my life completely to that of one other person. This is indeed the rationale
behind the insolubility of marriage...To love somebody is not just a strong feeling - it
is a decision, it is a judgement, it is a promise. If love were only a feeling, there would
be no basis for the promise to love each other forever. "Emotions may ebb and flow
but marriage is a living embodiment of those virtues of promise-keeping, commitment
and trust that are so important for any society.
In conclusion,
As a social type, married heterosexual unions provide a number of social benefits.
These include the generation of children and the raising up of future citizens; a
committed, supportive and safe environment for the nurturing of these children; two
parents who ideally, are biologically connected to their child and who are willing to
sacrifice themselves for the sake of that child; two complementary parents who can
provide appropriate gender role modelling; and an inter-generational connectedness
within families and societies where parents are encouraged to save and provide for
their children and grandchildren. Such unions also provide a mechanism for
effectively connecting children to their fathers, a longing of every child, and also for
ensuring a fairer distribution of parenting responsibilities. Married unions also
promote improved health and emotional well being both for spouses and for their
children and this contributes substantially to the overall flourishing of community life.
Nation states have typically developed both formal and informal mechanisms to
support married unions because as a type, these unions have the capacity to contribute
to the society in an essential and substantial way. Australian society needs committed,
enduring marriages as a social norm if it is to continue to flourish.
Chris Meney
Director,
Marriage and Family Office
Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney Polding Centre,
133 Liverpool St,
Sydney, 2000
ph: 02 93905368
fax: 02 93905288