The Marrying Kind

Why some men marry early and some not at all.

The best ministry churches can offer to young men may be modeling good marriages. Men who grew up in homes without two biological parents marry later than men from traditional families. And they are more likely to swear off marriage altogether.

A survey commissioned by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers found that men from non-traditional homes also mistrust women more than other men do. Some 54% of men from two-parent homes say they would be ready to marry tomorrow if the right person came along, compared to 43% of men from non-traditional homes. And 22% of men ages 25 to 34 said they “just aren’t the marrying kind.” The survey also found that men from religious homes are more marriage ready than those raised in secular homes.

Cohabitation replaces dating: About 10 million people live with an unmarried partner. That’s about 8% of U.S. couples, most in the 25-to-34 age group. Women view cohabitation as a commitment taken before marriage to that partner, while men see it as a step before an actual commitment. A Michigan sociologist says cohabiting makes sense to young people, if they are serious about each other at all. It also saves on rent.

Living together is still illegal in Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia.

No monkeying around: In a related story, male marmosets with offspring are more likely to be faithful to their mates than marmosets without kids. Thirty male marmosets were subjected to flirtatious advances from females. One third turned down the offer. Scientists were baffled until they discovered that all of the faithful monkeys were fathers, and were ready to return home to the comfort of their families.

“I’m tired of men getting a bad rap for supposedly being promiscuous and irresponsible,” researcher Charles Snowden says. “I’m happy we’ve finally found a species where, as parents, both females and males do the heavy lifting.”

—sources: USA Today and ABCNews.com