Tag Archives: sociology

Lost in America

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(“Lost in America” is a song by Alice Cooper)

The following is a very long, but interesting, article about the current exodus from suburbs into sub-suburbs (or “exurbs” as the author calls them).

Patio Man and the Sprawl People
America’s newest suburbs.
by David Brooks

I DON’T KNOW if you’ve ever noticed the expression of a man who is about to buy a first-class barbecue grill. He walks into a Home Depot or Lowe’s or one of the other mega hardware complexes and his eyes are glistening with a faraway visionary zeal, like one of those old prophets gazing into the promised land. His lips are parted and twitching slightly. Inside the megastore, the grills are just past the racks of affordable- house plan books, in the yard-machinery section. They are arrayed magnificently next to the vehicles that used to be known as rider mowers but are now known as lawn tractors, because to call them rider mowers doesn’t really convey the steroid-enhanced M-1 tank power of the things.

Even More on Marriage

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There seems to have been a flurry of research related to the study of what makes for good marriages. The results are, I'm pleased to say, in accordance with natural law AND the teachings of the Catholic Church. It's time for the prodigal son (secular society) to come home after learning hard leasons in "the real world".

Couples Who Live Together Split Faster: Report
By Keith Mulvihill

"NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – New study findings show that marriage is indeed a tie that binds–or at least binds a bit tighter than cohabitation without matrimony."

"Couples who live together without marriage are twice as likely to split up 5 years after they move in together than couples who tie the knot, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). And similar to past research, the survey found that couples who lived together before marriage were also more likely to split than those who waited until after they got hitched."

"The report is based on a 1995 survey of nearly 11,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44."

More About Marriage

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U.S. Compiles Divorce Statistics
By LAURA MECKLER

"One in three marriages will end in divorce during their first 10 years, with certain couples more likely to split up than others, a government survey finds. People who marry young, have less money, are not religious and whose parents are divorced are more likely to divorce themselves.Overall, by age 30, three in four women have been married and about half have lived with a partner outside marriage."

"Those are among the findings of an extensive survey of nearly 11,000 women ages 15 to 44 exploring factors influencing cohabitation, marriage and divorce. The survey, conducted in 1995 by the National Center for Health Statistics, focuses on a wide range of family and fertility issues and included only women. A new round of interviews being done now includes both men and women."

Divorce and premarital cohabitation are bad ideas? Gee, the Catholic Church has always maintained that. Amazing, ain't it? 😉

More Natural Law

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Divorce No Ticket to Happiness, Study Says

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Unhappily married couples often get lots of advice and a report released on Thursday offered some more: don’t divorce, stick it out.

Researchers from the University of Chicago and other schools concluded that about the same proportion of couples who avoided divorcing despite an unhappy marriage ended up happy five years later as those who had split up.

Ah…Natural Law

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Cohabiting can make marriage an iffy proposition

Even married, men may still feel less committed

An expert addressing a “Smart Marriages” conference this week will drop research on his colleagues that may indeed make some Americans smart.

Researcher Scott Stanley’s case is this: Women living unmarried with guys and expecting a lasting, committed marriage down the line had better review their options. His research finds that men who cohabit with the women they eventually marry are less committed to the union than men who never lived with their spouses ahead of time.