Yet, the family has a future because people still desire to live their lives with and for others. She examined international data and found evidence proving that medical histories, sexual satisfaction, financial status and longevity improved globally within marriages. However, in synthesizing research on all the benefits of marriage for her book, Gallagher did not find the same benefits held true for couples living together. Popular culture presents sex as sexual passion, but never with the frequency, quality or openness of sex over the course of a marriage where passion can turn into compassion. All this may be so, but the problem, as Glossop sees it, is that you can't turn back the clock.
Women are more independent.
You don't marry to satisfy expectations of parents, grandparents, co-workers, bosses, the community, the dictates of the church, to avoid sanctions of the law or to legitimize a personal promise you want to make to one another. In the last 30 years, there's been a profound cultural shift. Not according to Glossop, who says people marry more often, or slip in and out of even more monogamous relationships. In her book, Gallagher suggests married couples be treated differently than cohabiting couples, that marriage changes people's goals and behaviours, and that divorce be seen as a tragic event to be avoided, especially if there are children. It's a judgment that one person makes about a future that can change.