Wedlock is the bedrock
So you want to get married? Well, don’t wait till you find the love of your life.
How misguided to hold out for The One, to search for someone to take your breath away, or hanker after a soul mate.
What about the economy, societal order, life expectancy and the good of the nation?
Just like the famous Communist Manifesto of 1848, written by Engels and Marx, there’s a call to arms in the Marriage Manifesto of Canberra 2007.
It’s a grand plan, a course of action for a nation that has let the sacred institution of marriage flounder at the expense of temporary unions and wayward affiliations.
It’s time to act, to save marriage once and for all before it becomes all too hard and slips out of existence. As the major parties jockey for position ahead of an impending federal election, they’re being urged to have marriage on their minds. But it’s had some bad PR of late.
Shane Warne has certainly done it no favours. Then there’s that escalating divorce rate: 39 per cent of marriages end in divorce, and the figure is rising.
The Marriage Manifesto sets out what governments can do to change all that. It’s all well and good to focus on climate change, tax brackets and the war on terror, but wedlock, according to manifesto signatories, is the “bedrock” of our nation – and it’s at serious risk.
The manifesto cites pro-marriage research to show that it’s vital for economic prosperity (married people earn more money) and the health and psychological well-being of the nation (married people live longer and are more sane).
It argues that children raised by wedded parents are better off than those who aren’t (umm … depends on the parents), and no marriage, or late marriage, is believed to be the single biggest factor affecting fertility.
As for the alternatives, divorce doesn’t make people any happier: 37 per cent of divorcees admit they regretted it five years later.
Divorce also costs taxpayers $4billion a year; co-habitation is even less likely to last than marriage; and being single forever is just not an option, as most Australians still long for wedded bliss.
So, if matrimony is the collective aim, here’s what governments must do: make it harder. It’s harder to get a driver’s licence than to commit to spend the rest of your life with another. All you need is love – and they’ll take your word for it.
Plenty of people think it’s love and slip through the net, or are trying to get in quick lest they miss the boat. Applying rigorous testing for long-term potential would wheedle out pretenders.
Far cheaper to subsidise marriage classes, one of the key manifesto recommendations, and introduce tax incentives for wedded couples.
Marriage performances would be incorporated in government policy, taking into account declining divorce rates and more babies born in a marital unit.
As citizens, we can do our bit by getting married. But what if you can’t find someone to tie the knot with? That could well be our fault for being unrealistic.
Manifesto co-author Jane Rookes points out: “The criteria people look for in a spouse are often flawed from the start.
“They think a relationship is about feelings, so they’re forever looking for that. But they’ve been sold a lie.
“It’s about finding someone who shares your values and your passion.”
And therein lies the problem. For MPs to turn the tide on the marriage problem, they must first overturn our ideals of love. Who’s gonna fall for that?