From: DRAGONFLY           
To: TURTLE              
Subject: SERIOUS PROBLEM
Date & Time: 04/28/91 12:24:31
Message Number 16228

>...I feel very strongly that in a society where almost all marriages
> fail, marriage is meaningless.
    
   When last I checked, the divorce rate was about 55%.  Forty-five
percent of something is not "almost all."
     
   Also, a majority of marriages fail early on in the relationship --
or after the children are off to college.  (This info might be a bit
outdated.)  Marriage may not be the most stable environment imaginable
for raising children, but (from the above) it tends to do a fair job.
    
   Right now, marriage is the only institution around which is expressly
for the raising of children. Until something new (and demonstrably 
better) comes along, we're stuck with it.  (BTW, does anyone know if
there exist statistics for unmarried couples: how long they stick 
together?  Of course, any data like that would be biased.)
     
                        //Dragonfly//