{"id":41397,"date":"2015-05-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/marriages-strengthen-our-country-and-ourselves\/"},"modified":"2015-05-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T00:00:00","slug":"marriages-strengthen-our-country-and-ourselves","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/marriages-strengthen-our-country-and-ourselves\/","title":{"rendered":"Marriages Strengthen Our Country and Ourselves"},"content":{"rendered":"

A small article in The Week<\/em>, a secular source for world and American news, made the following statement:<\/p>\n\n

\n

Want to help America's economy and yourself at the same time? Then get married. The advantages of raising kids in a stable household are well documented: "Children of married parents are more likely to graduate high school, less likely to go to jail, and more likely to delay sexual activity." … [Kids from single parent homes] are "five times as likely to live in poverty." Men who marry, research has shown, are more productive at work, are paid better, and are more likely to be employed than their unmarried counterparts. Economist Stephen Moore has pointed out that marriage is a "far better social program than food stamps, Medicaid, public housing, or even all of them combined."<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

Yet despite the advantages of connubial life, "single-parent families have exploded." Today, more than 40 percent of American children are born out of wedlock. To restore the vigorous economic growth that built America's middle class, we first need to restore the "pro-growth" institution of marriage.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Editor’s Note: According to Statista<\/a>, the percentage has remained right around 40% from 2007 to 2022 (latest figures available as of 2024).<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[410],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3631,3823,3960,4196,4425,4489,4694,5068,5255],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-41397","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-cohabitation","tax_ctp_tags-divorce","tax_ctp_tags-family","tax_ctp_tags-husband","tax_ctp_tags-marriage","tax_ctp_tags-monogamy","tax_ctp_tags-premarital-counseling","tax_ctp_tags-spouse","tax_ctp_tags-vows"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nMarriages Strengthen Our Country and Ourselves - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/marriages-strengthen-our-country-and-ourselves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marriages Strengthen Our Country and Ourselves - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A small article in The Week, a secular source for world and American news, made the following statement: Want to help America's economy and yourself at the same time? 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