Marriage: A Social Institution

Social institutions result from intentional actions on the part of collections of humans for the purpose of achieving some objective [or social good]. incorporate humanly devised con- straints that shape human interaction and are designed and evolved to regulate [private] incentive problems An Economic Assessment of Same-Sex Marriage Laws Douglas Allen

Private incentives Cooperation [to achieve a social good] also enables people to take advantage of one another or behave opportunistically. Successful societies create institu- tions that constrain opportunistic behaviour. An Economic Assessment of Same-Sex Marriage Laws Douglas Allen

Marriage: a social institution Marriage is designed to regulate individual selfish behaviour that gets in the way of producing successful children. An Economic Assessment of Same-Sex Marriage Laws Douglas Allen

Whenever a child is born, a mother will always be close by. That’s a fact of biology. The question for culture and the question for law is whether a father will be close by. And if so, for how long? Marriage Matters, and Redefining It Has Social Costs Ryan T. Anderson, January 15th,

Marriage – two views 1.Conjugal view: a sexual union of husband and wife who promised each other sexual fidelity, mutual caretaking and the joint parenting of any children they may have. 2.Partnership view: a relationship created by the couple for the fulfilment of the two individuals who enter into it. Marriage equality or the destruction of difference? Roger Scruton and Phillip Blond

Marriage – the partnership view fails to acknowledge … the fact of sexual difference; the enormous tide of heterosexual desire in human life; the procreativity of male-female bonding; the unique social ecology of parenting which offers children vital and fundamental bonds with their biological parents Marriage equality or the destruction of difference? Roger Scruton and Phillip Blond

Marriage – the conjugal view Union across sexual difference is the most powerful aspect of conjugal marriage. It provides the sole institution that can successfully cope with the generative power of opposite-sex unions. Marriage equality or the destruction of difference? Roger Scruton and Phillip Blond

Changing marriage constraints Divorce reformers felt that marriage was the domain of lovers. Issues of specific investments, paternity, and the like simply were not considered.... Taken together, this view of marriage failed to account for the economic realities of marriage, and as a result, was unable to predict how no fault divorce would affect behavior. An Economic Assessment of Same-Sex Marriage Laws Douglas Allen

Effects of no fault divorce - 1 Divorce has increased fourfold. Living together before marriage has more than quadrupled. The proportion of married, natural parents in charge of children in families is now the lowest in our history. The Future of Marriage Barry Maley

Effects of no fault divorce - 2 The percentage of children in single parent families has increased more than fourfold since the 1960s. About 28% of children are living apart from one of their natural parents – almost always the father. The Future of Marriage Barry Maley

Effects of no fault divorce - 3 In 1960 the average number of births in a woman’s lifetime was 3.4. By 2000 it had halved to 1.75, and mother’s age at first birth was substantially higher. Rates of abortion have tripled since In 1960, 5% of births were outside marriage; in 2000 it was close to 30%. The Future of Marriage Barry Maley

Consequences of legalising same- sex marriage? - 1 All of the arguments for no-fault divorce were well meaning [but] there was a general failure to understand the true role of marriage institutions. The same misunderstandings of marriage … are found today in the debate over same-sex marriage. An Economic Assessment of Same-Sex Marriage Laws Douglas Allen

Consequences of legalising same- sex marriage? - 2 Social responsibility, loving partner-ships, and spousehood are promoted over the institutional concepts of husband, wife, and parent. … But the no-fault divorce experience tells us [these views of marriage] are not true, and therefore movements toward same-sex marriage will have different consequences than proponents claim. An Economic Assessment of Same-Sex Marriage Laws Douglas Allen

New Family Structures Survey of 2,988 U.S. adults aged (University of Texas, 2012) n=116n=110n=175n=919n=73n=816n=394

New Family Structures Survey of 2,988 U.S. adults aged (University of Texas, 2012) n=116n=110n=175n=919n=73n=816n=394

New Family Structures Survey of 2,988 U.S. adults aged (University of Texas, 2012) n=116n=110n=175n=919n=73n=816n=394

New Family Structures Survey of 2,988 U.S. adults aged (University of Texas, 2012) n=116n=110n=175n=919n=73n=816n=394

New Family Structures Survey of 2,988 U.S. adults aged (University of Texas, 2012) n=116n=110n=175n=919n=73n=816n=394

New Family Structures Survey of 2,988 U.S. adults aged (University of Texas, 2012) n=116n=110n=175n=919n=73n=816n=394

New Family Structures Survey of 2,988 U.S. adults aged (University of Texas, 2012) n=116n=110n=175n=919n=73n=816n=394

References An Economic Assessment of Same-Sex Marriage Laws - Douglas Allen Marriage Matters, and Redefining It Has Social Costs - Ryan T. Anderson Marriage equality or the destruction of difference? - Roger Scruton, Phillip Blond The Future of Marriage - Barry Maley The New Family Structures Study - University of Texas at Austin see children from different families - Dr. Mark Regnerus, Associate Professor of Sociology, Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin