A fresh analysis of national data by the centre shows that cohabitations are rarely a long term lifestyle choice and the vast majority last only a short time before being converted into marriage or dissolving.

Less than a quarter of first cohabitations last five years and just one in nineteen of all cohabiting couples (5.3 per cent) has been together for ten years or more.

The proportion of couples still cohabiting by the time their first child is 16 has dropped more than five-fold since the early 1990s. In contrast, marriage has become a more stable family background for children, with married couples now more than ten times as likely to stay together until their child is 16. Seventy-five per cent do so, compared with just 7 per cent of cohabiting ones.

The average unmarried couple now lives together for three years and almost a half stop cohabiting before two years. Around three in five couples who stop cohabiting decide to get married, while less than two in five separate, making marriage still the preferred relationship choice for couples.

Yet the analysis also showed that cohabitation does not serve as a ‘trial marriage’ but instead increases the odds of divorce. Never-married couples who cohabit before getting married are 60 per cent more likely to divorce than those who have not first lived together.

“Once again all the evidence suggests that families headed by married, biological parents who have not previously lived together provide the best environment for both the individuals involved and their children. This has huge personal, social, economic and political consequences for us all,” said Jubilee Centre Director Dr John Hayward, who headed up the research,

Fellow researcher Dr Guy Brandon added, “The cost of family breakdown to society, whether parents have cohabited or married, is enormous. Besides the emotional cost, which inevitably has an impact on mental health and economic productivity, the direct costs are presently estimated at £41.7 billion each year – the equivalent of £1,350 per taxpayer per year.

“Given the projected rise in cohabiting couples in England and Wales from 2.25 million to 3.7 million in the next twenty years, and the clear link between cohabitation and family breakdown, it is fair to expect these costs to rise significantly in coming years.”  Article source

The “Big Man Upstairs” is getting accolades from mental health specialists who say they are finding that a belief in God plays a positive role in the treatment of anxiety and depression. Entire article

University of Toronto psychologists reported last year that “believing in God can help block anxiety and minimize stress,” their research showcasing “distinct brain differences” between believers and nonbelievers.

A new study released Wednesday by Rush University Medical Center in Chicago took the idea a step further.

In patients diagnosed with clinical depression, “belief in a concerned God can improve response to medical treatment,” said the new research, which has been published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

The operative term here is “caring,” the researchers said. “The study found that those with strong beliefs in a personal and concerned God were more likely to experience an improvement.”

The researchers compared the levels of melancholy or hopelessness in 136 adults diagnosed with major depression or bipolar depression with their sense of “religious well-being.” They found participants who scored in the top third of a scale charting a sense of religious well-being were 75 percent more likely to get better with medical treatment for clinical depression.

“In our study, the positive response to medication had little to do with the feeling of hope that typically accompanies spiritual belief,” said study director Patricia Murphy, a chaplain at Rush and an assistant professor of religion, health and human values.

“It was tied specifically to the belief that a Supreme Being cared,” she said.

“For people diagnosed with clinical depression, medication certainly plays an important role in reducing symptoms,” Ms. Murphy added. “But when treating persons diagnosed with depression, clinicians need to be aware of the role of religion in their patients’ lives. It is an important resource in planning their care.”

Public opinion polls — from Gallup to the Pew Research Center — reveal that large majorities of Americans believe in God. It is a factor among the researchers as well.

Data released last year by sociologists from the University of California at Berkeley, in fact, revealed that 93 percent of the nation believes in God, a finding that has remained unchanged since 1988.

The Canadian researchers who found that belief in God lowers anxiety and stress also based their conclusions on measurements — monitoring the brain activities of believers and nonbelievers charged with some challenging tasks.

“We found that religious people or even people who simply believe in the existence of God show significantly less brain activity in relation to their own errors,” said Michael Inzlicht, assistant psychology professor at the University of Toronto, who led the research.

“They’re much less anxious and feel less stressed when they have made an error,” he said.

By KRISTY KUHN

Meeting Amazing Grace

Learn more.

These conflicted feelings haven’t gone without notice in Washington.  Read more

May. 6, 2008 

Study provides new evidence that nursing makes kids smarter

Enjoy music to lift your spirits and touch your soul. Do a lot of laughing while you learn important ideas for making your marriage better than ever. Go away feeling even more in love and ready to face the challenges of life with new optimism. Call 1-800-224-1606.
For all the details click here.

By Melinda Wenner

People who are looking to ease depression may have a new treatment option — marriage.

A recent study suggests that marriage provides a greater psychological boost to depressed people than to happy people, even if the marriage is so-so.
Click here to read the FOXNews article.