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Married people are less depressed, suicidal, violent, and prone to drug abuse than their single and divorced cohorts, says a report issued February 14 by the Institute for American Values, the Center of the American Experiment, and the Coalition for Marriage, Family, and Couples Education. Married folks also live longer and make more money. So it seems that society should encourage marriage, doesn't it? The Bush administration thinks so, and in its welfare reform plan has proposed a $100 million fund to promote marital unions. It's opposed by a group called Alternatives to Marriage Project, which says marriage is too personal a decision for government involvement. Meanwhile, local initiatives continue to flourish around the country. Marriage Savers continues to convince clergy not to marry couples without premarital counseling and a long-term courtship.

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Why Marriage Matters: 21 Conclusions from the Social Sciences is available at the Institute for American Values site.

Other coverage of the study includes:

Marriage gets boost from social report - The Washington Times (Feb. 14, 2001)

See the Web sites for both Alternatives to Marriage Project and Marriage Savers.

The official White House site includes an overview of Bush's plan to Promote Child Well-Being and Healthy Marriages as part of his welfare reform agenda.

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April 1 2002, Vol. 46, No. 4