Key To Happy Marriage

A new survey conducted by The Pew Research Center found that people consider children less of a key to a happy marriage than a similar survey conducted in 1990. Sharing in household chores was very important to 62% of the people who were polled while only 41% classified children as important to a happy marriage. In a margin of 3-1, couples stated that the main purpose of marriage is the "mutual fulfilment and happiness" of adults rather than the "bearing and raising of children". My question is whether this survey may be tied to the decline of the divorce rate? If more and more people are getting married with the purpose of sustaining a happy and fulfilled life, rather than getting married for the purpose of having children, could this actually be good for marriage? Some scholars believe that the fulfillment of one's own happiness is actually responsible for the decline in family values. However, does this necessarily mean the decline of marriage? While marriage and children do go hand in hand, people are finding that children do not necessarily mean that a marriage will be happy and successful. It appears that the more that a couple shares with respect to the responsibilities in marriage, the more likely their marriage is to be happy.

If you would like to read about the Pew Research Center Survey, visit: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070701/ap_on_re_us/marriage_survey;_ylt=Ajx252OIL92F1ke2r_noNk7MWM0F