That means changing our cultural mind-set, which presents marriage as just one of several morally equivalent lifestyle choices. It is usually presented as a constraint on personal freedom and even a bar to the happiness of women. But the constraint has a flip side. There's less fear of sexual abandonment, less cause for sexual jealousy, less violence and abuse. For both men and women, marriage is actually the best guarantee of health and happiness.
Marriage gives both sexes better health, less depression and fewer other mental disorders.
These benefits are not shared by cohabiting couples, who are less sexually faithful, less willing to support each other and more likely to split up. Yet our elites still claim that family structure doesn't matter, that it's only the relationships that count, and that it's better for children if miserable parents divorce and end their conflict. One of the most important findings is this. But most divorces involving children end marriages that are not high-conflict and that the children think are good enough. So the truth is that most divorces are producing an unmitigated disaster for children.