Marriage is good for the economy

The economy is an issue that is often spoken of in election years and this year is no exception.  A strong and solid economy is good not only for our country but also for families and for marriages.  The interesting thing that the Center for Marriage and Families at the Institute for American Values found is that not only is the economy good for marriages but that marriages are good for the economy.

These are some of the findings of the research:

1. Divorce and unmarried childbearing increase poverty for both children and mothers, and cohabitation is less likely to alleviate poverty than is marriage.
2. Married couples seem to build more wealth on average than singles or cohabitating couples.
3. Marriage reduces poverty and material hardship for disadvantaged women and their children.
4. Married men earn more money than do single men with similar education and job histories.
5. Parental divorce appears to increase children’s risk of school failure.
6. Parental divorce reduces the likelihood that children will graduate from college and achieve high-status jobs.

It’s Not what you have, it’s how you manage it

Those are the summaries of the statistics.  However, marriage itself is not the financial cure-all.  As in everything whether you are single or married how you manage what God has given you is what is important.  While the Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil it also tells us that our financial resources can be used to the glory of God!  It is not so much what you have as how you manage what you have that matters.  And it is in that management that we can really see how marriage matters for the economy.

We are all called upon to be good stewards, or managers, of the blessings that God has given to us.  Our money is no exception.  In fact, I have been told that Jesus spoke more about money than any other topic.  Marriage and family are excellent places for this management to be practiced and taught!  As we receive the blessings that God has given us we use them in ways that would be pleasing to Him!  As husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, we can manage our resources to care for one another and others.  Our homes can be examples of loving and sharing not only our affections but also our gifts and resources.