Let's be Copycats
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September 1, 2023When it comes to marriage and family life, innovation and novelty is overrated. Old school religion and the common sense we see with initiatives such as The Success Sequence, promoted by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), might be just what we need to help couples, families and communities thrive and reach that goal our beloved Pope St. John Paul II proposed, “Family become what you are.”
The Success Sequence is a formula for familial and economic prosperity that dares to declare the obvious. Using historical data and research, IFS social scientists discovered that if 1.) young adults graduate from high school, 2.) get a full time job, and 3.) get married before having children, their probability for success, and their children’s success skyrockets. Utah presents an interesting case study in the relationship between marriage and successful economic outcomes.
In mid-July, the Sutherland Institute for Family Studies released a report titled “The Utah Family Miracle,” in it, social scientists report the correlation they have found between marriage, family stability and favorable economic conditions in the Beehive state. Utah’s economy ranks #1 among all 50 states, according the U.S News and World Report. So what makes Utah different?
“In 2021, 55% of adults in Utah (ages 18-55) were married and 82% of its children were living in married couple families,” reads the report. “This compares to 45% of adults married and 75% of kids living in married families nationally,” it states. In Texas, about 46% of adults are married and 64% of children live with their married parents, according to the Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve Economic Data respectively.
Another significant thing that makes Utah very different that the report infers, but never comes out and says, is that a lot of people in Utah are religious. To be precise, 68% of the population is Mormon, according the World Atlas (2021). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is known for its high standards and strict rules when it comes to marriage and family life. The LDS Church believes the sexual union is reserved for marriage (sounds familiar) and members are discouraged from marrying outside of their religion. Mixed religion couples cannot have a “temple sealing” aka a church wedding. Whereas Christian marriage vows bind couples “until death do you part,” Latter-day Saint couples are assured their sealed marriage bond lasts for eternity. This becomes an incentive for young couples to stay within the LDS dating pool. While LDS and Catholic theology are incompatible, the LDS church, like the Catholic Church believes marriage is a part of God’s Plan, and like the Catholic Church they believe it is a permanent union where the man and the woman are called to be fruitful and virtuous.
The authors of the Utah Family Miracle report warn that Utah’s days as an outlier may be numbered however. As good as the percentages of married couples in the state over the past two decades have been, there is also evidence that marriage rates are dropping there too, just like they have been in the rest of the country. The authors of the report suggest some practical measures Utah can take to maintain high levels of marriage and the economic boon they create. This is advice the rest of us should stand up for and pay attention.
First of all, the report recommends the state require data collection based on family structure. “You need to measure what is happening in families and how family dynamics are tied to key state outcomes,” the authors recommend. The second recommendation, is to incorporate the Success Sequence into public school curriculum and premarital education across the state. “Research shows that premarital education can strengthen couple relationship skills and reduce the risk of divorce,” cites the report. The third recommendation the authors propose, is for the state to provide a child allowance for couples and single parents who fall under certain economic thresholds. The fourth recommendation is to address families’ cost of living expenses. “Policy makers should set a goal of supporting parents to feel more financially secure at the end of every month,” says the report. Housing prices, they say, can be a significant barrier to marriage. The fifth and final recommendation the experts give to the State of Utah, is to create a State Commission on Men and Boys, to address the high dropout rates among high school boys and young men in college, factors that are leading to their overall lack of participation in the two major institutions that bring satisfaction and stability to a man’s life, work and marriage.
The data is unequivocal and supports what the Church has been saying all along. Marriage is the basic fundamental cell of society. The strength of having a true Christian marriage at the center of a family is good for couples, children, and society at large. Forget originality, let be copycats. Let's follow Utah's lead to create strong families and strong economies that benefit everyone.
