On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 2:53:23 PM UTC-4, Bruce wrote:
> >On Mon, 2 Oct 2017 09:44:31 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> >
> >> https://www.childtrends.org/indicato...married-women/
> >> The proportion of births to unmarried women has increased greatly in
> >> recent decades, rising from five percent in 1960 to 32 percent in 1995.
> >> After some stability in the mid-1990s, there was a gradual rise from
> >> 1997 through 2008, from 32 to 41 percent. The rate appears to have
> >> stabilized again, and was at 40 percent in 2014.
>
> Marriage has nothing to do with it. The 50s are over. Lots of people
> see marriage as a useless piece of paper. An unnecessary government
> (let alone church) approval of your relationship.

It does provide legal protection for spouses. Everything from
parental rights, to Social Security benefits, to
the right to determine what happens to the body after death.

That was uppermost in our minds when we got married.

Cindy Hamilton