More on the NYT

The outrage continues over the NYT marriage distortions. Here Mike McManus, founder of Marriage Savers, makes the connection between No-Fault Divorce and the decline of marriage. He proposes as an alternative, Mutual Consent Divorce, which is what many people believe No-Fault is. When you explain that No-Fault means Unilateral divorce, and that many people are divorced against their wills, people are usually shocked.

There has been an alarming increase of never-married people. In 1970 there were
21 million never-married men and women aged 18 or older. By 2005, the number was 52 million. That is a 148 percent hike, more than triple the growth of population. Of those aged 30-44, the percentage of never-married men and women has also tripled since 1970.

What is not widely recognized is that these trends feed upon each other. The tripling of divorces makes young people fearful of marriage, particularly the 35 million since 1970 who saw their parents divorce. That experience fueled the number of cohabiting couples10-fold from 523,000 in 1970 to 5.2 million in 2005. In choosing a "trial marriage" they have unwittingly chosen a "trial divorce." Eight of ten will either break up before the wedding or after. The divorce rate for those who live together first is 50 percent higher than couples who remain apart until the wedding.