It might suprise you to know that, despite all the negativity in the world, your kids are probably looking forward to getting married.  Well, most of them are, anyway.

Studies suggest that American teenagers are not so opposed to getting married as teenagers used to be in the 70's and 80's and the upward trend has a lot to do with how the role of marriage and relationships are actually percieved.

One study we looked at from www.healthymarriageinfo.org said that marriage or relationships that were long term didn't scare off most kids now days because their attitudes about what they were had changed over they years.

First, they didn't view them as "tradidtional" anymore. 

Think back to the one-man-one-woman picket-fence two-kids and the white apron view that might have been what your parents sought to achieve.  While it was what many households were on the outside, it hardley represented what they were on the inside.  Attitudes of social and emotional repression often made teens in the 70's and 80's respond to like surveys with a less-than-favorable opinion to marriage.

Now, though, since the cultural defiinitions of what can constitute a family has changed (for instance, the idea of Dad staying home and taking care of the house is much more accepted) so has the level at which teens are willing to embrace the idea of getting married or entering long-term relationships themselves.

One of the strongest factors that has determined the shift is the acceptance of non-traditional marital and family values and behaviors, such as cohabitation, divorce, remaining single, premarital sex and a more egalitarian view toward gender roles in marriage. All these things that would have made Donna Reid's syndicated toes curl. 

Overall, extreme conservitve views ask, is it better that the younger generation are more open to getting married even if it is because the definition of marriage has become more liberal? 

Completely seperate from this study, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. published a study suggesting that marriage doesn't have any significant impact on long-term happiness.   The study, which measured life satisfaction levels of more than 24,000 individuals living in Germany, looked at how people adapt to both positive and negative life events.  After a divorce or death or a partner, the remaining partner's hapniness level returned to it's origional state.

In the end, we conclude that marriage can bring fullfilment, pleasure and exactly as much as your bring to it.  What marriage cannot do is solve problems for you.  You bring balance to yourself, and no one can do that for you.  If your parents' had a bad marriage, look at that and find ways to not repeat that cycle in your relationship.  Don't expect your partner to fix anything in your own life.  Problems you bring into your relationship will still be there and you cannot change your problems or those of your partner.  Breaking cycles now can do a lot to make YOUR kids want a good and healthy relationship, too.