Ever since has man stepped over earth, he has an urge to develop his own family for the purpose of living a happy and contended life. Therefore, an immediate family is required for personal contentment which could be helpful in every hour of need. Different societies of the world have varieties of family set-ups, and there has been a subsequent change observed in the traditional family systems since the dawn of modernization. Usually, a group of persons who are connected through blood streams and who live under one roof is termed as a family. The family can be immediate, such as spouses and their children, or can be extended, such as grand parents or other family members from in-laws of any of the spouses. Therefore, in legal terms, even a married couple is termed as a family, who then extend their family by producing kids. All members of the family are bounded to love each other and to remain committed with each other for the whole life (The Law Dictionary, n.d).
The Holy bond of marriage is the most significant one in establishing and starting a family. Not only it provides a companion-ship and partnership to both the spouses, it is a legal mean for sexual and physical gratification as well. Marriage is that holy bound in which anyone who marries should fulfill his/her marital duties in the way they are meant to be. It is the life-long bond of love, care, mutual understanding and responsibility towards each other. Therefore, marriage is an important social contract and must be regarded by both the partners with all possible means. Since marriage involves the common-law partnership of two responsible and mature citizens of the state, it is defined to be an agreement or contract with the state, which can be either solemnized through a religious act or by simple registering as a legal husband and wife. However, it is not a strict legal contract as usually explained and done between two or more parties and involves two individuals only. By getting married one acquires the right of body and the soul of the other partner and it is assumed to be life-long. Although it seems that apparently there is no need to define marriage as a state contract, yet there always have been to define the terms and conditions of marriage in every particular context (Allen, 1990).
According to US federal law of Defense of Marriage Act which was passed in 1996, only those married couples can enjoy the full extent and benefits of marriage that are from opposite sexes. These benefits include leniency in social security incomes, tax returns and immigrations laws and providing incentives such as insurance from the state. As the state involves itself in the creation of marriage contracts, these incentives are provided in order to help those who strictly abide by all those rules which are mentioned in the contract. However, these are not the only benefits which a married couple could get, since apart of these incentives from the state, there are many socio-economic benefits which can be acquired through an appropriate marriage contract (Gacek, n.d).
A big benefit which one gets by getting married is of having a family, co-habiting at a single place. Although it is argued that usual partners other than married spouses can also enjoy the same benefits, yet when it comes to have and raise children, married couples are observed to play their responsibilities in an efficient way. This is not only the case with children; there are certain commodities which can never be exchanged by two or more usual partners, but by getting married, since one acquires the right to use other one’s goods in an effective way, this certainly lowers the overall transaction cost since the spouses exchange their commodities with each other and lower their expenses to a great extent. Hence by signing the marriage contract, a person is obliged to share his/her partner’s economic burden and in this way the financial condition of the overall family can be improved significantly (Allen, 1990).
Another important benefit from the marriage includes sexual activity. A marriage contract enables the two persons to use each other’s body for their sexual gratification. The contract also limits both of them to restrict themselves to each other and not to stray elsewhere. Marriage is the only social contract which provides this right to individuals of opposite sex, which if happens outside the holy bond of marriage, is considered adultery. Legitimate children are produced in this way and hence the society does not have to hold a burden of children living with single parents as a result of un-married sexual activity (Allen, 1990).
Apart of these and other benefits and incentives of marriage, the divorce rate has been on stake in US (3.4% in 2012). However, it is not easy to get an instant divorce in a state performed marriage. There are certain legal allegations and requirements over both the partners to be fulfilled for the completion of divorce procedure. Usually, the process starts with filing of the petition from any of the partners, with the help of a legal attorney. The petition includes all those grounds over which the divorce is filed and appropriate documents for its justification. The court is obliged to resolve the matters of property, custody of children and financial support between the individuals before the final grant of divorce. In usual cases, a person is deprived of his/her ex-partner’s assets and property; however he/she may be obliged to financially support the partner to an extent. Minor children are usually given in the custody of mothers, with an obligation over fathers that they must provide sufficient economic support to their children. The individuals are then allowed to re-marry through the orders of court. Hence as marriage was created through a legal contract, its dissolution is also a legal activity to be performed in order to find another spouse or get separated from the existing one on legal basis (PLEA, 2012).
US is currently coping with unwanted situations formed because of high divorce rates in the society. A major problem is of single parenthood and poor economic conditions of families run by single parents. According to a research by Washington times, since last fifty years, the number of children living with single parents has been doubled as the number of single parents is sufficiently increased and an overall number of two-parent households has been decreased by 1.2 million. It is miserable to note that the most drastic impact and challenges are being faced by the children of such single-parent families. Since the economical condition of a house where there are more earners would definitely be better than the one having relatively lesser earners, therefore a family with both father and mother employed can acquire a better economical, financial and social to their children. Currently, the average income of a married couple with children in today’s US society is about $80,000, while single mothers are able to earn to an average of only $24,000. This shows that a married, employed couple could earn three times more than a single mother, if they both have to raise children (Anderson 2013).
Single-mothers face the most challenging environment and tend to seek help from relief organizations as well. For a single parent family (either single father or mother), the poverty rate is estimated to be 27.3%, while only in the case of single mothers, the poverty rate is almost equivalent to 30%. Thus poverty is more amongst those families being headed by a single mother as compared with single father households (Ellwood and Jencks, 2002). Thus children are likely to suffer more with their single mothers and are more likely to face economic, social and personality problems. Thus fatherlessness negatively impacts on the personality and behavior development of a child and the presence of both parents is essential with every aspect (Rank and Hirschl, 1999).
Thus to conclude, Marriage is an important social contract which guaranty social and economic peace and the life of contentment to the individual. This contract must be regarded by both the spouses and must indulge themselves in the bond of love and affection with each other and with their children. Only in this way, a society can become moral and can progress in a right direction.
References
Allen, D. W. (January 01, 1990). An inquiry into the state's role in marriage. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 13, 2, 171-91.
Anderson, K. (Jan 04, 2013). The number of US children living in single-parent homes has nearly doubled in 50 years: Census data. LifeSiteNews. Retrieved June 03, 2013 from: <http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/the-number-of-children-living-in-single-parent-homes-has-nearly-doubled-in/>
Ellwood, D and Jencks, C. (2002). The Spread of Single -Parent Families in the United States since 1960. Harvard University.
Gacek, C. (n.d). Basic Facts about the Defense Of Marriage Act. Family Research Council. Retrieved June 03, 2013 from: <http://www.frc.org/onepagers/basic-facts-about-the-defense-of-marriage-act>
PLEA: Legal Information for Everyone. (December 4, 2012). When Couples Separate. Retrieved June 03, 2013 from: <http://www.plea.org/legal_resources/?a=375&searchTxt=&cat=17&pcat=4>
Rank, M and Hirschl, T. (1999). The Economic Risk of Childhood in America: Estimating the Probability of Poverty across the Formative Years. Journal of Marriage and Family 61, 4: 1058-1067.
The Law Dictionary. (n.d). What is FAMILY? Retrieved June 03, 2013 from: <http://thelawdictionary.org/family/>
