I was watching Fox News as I often do, and I was intrigued by a story they were reporting today. In America, marriage is on the decline. I reported months ago on marriage officially no longer being the majority choice for Americans. Divorce is on the rise, 53% of first marriages end in divorce and 60% of second marriages end in divorce. These numbers alone are startling, but a statistic I heard on the news is more startling to me.

Today, Fox News reported that 44% of married women said they would not remarry their husbands! What does this mean? If they had it to do all over again, they would not marry the spouse they have. In addition, the study discovered 75% of women keep secrets from their husbands and over half of them suspect their spouse is cheating. The large portion of the women in the study also admitted to repeated flirting. What is the root of this belief?

I think this type of logic steams from many things…

1. False Expectations-Realistic expectations of spouses can often reduce disappointments in a relationship. Many women and men enter into marriages thinking their spouse is “larger than life.”

2. Lack of Pre-Marital Counseling-Pre-marital counseling can help couples determine if they are marrying the right person. A good session of marriage counseling can bring everything “out in the open.”

3. Lack of commitment-Many people love the idea of marriage, but they do not want the commitment of it…this leads to divorce and a lot of broken hearts.

In a society where marriage is on the decline and divorce is on the rise, it is discouraging the women that are married do not value their spouses enough to marry them again if they could “do it all over again.” Although the men were not polled in this study, I do not think their responses would have been any better. Although a focus group of women were polled, I wonder how many women share the same beliefs that were not polled. I personally believe you should never marry a person unless you believe they are the best person for you that you would marry over and over again because you love them.