One of the most disturbing facts about American marriage today is that while divorce increased at similar rates for the wealthy and the poor in the 1960s and ’70s, those rates diverged sharply starting around 1980. According to the sociologist Steven P. Martin, among Americans who married between 1975 and 1979, the 10-year divorce rate was 28 perce

Whether we realize it or not, this consumerist expectation gets attached to just about everything we get involved in, including marriage. When you view marriage as a product or commodity, you are trying to make it define you in some way. You are saying, “I expect marriage to make me look better, to make me feel better, to make me happier, right now

Divorced women often experienced an immediate and sharp decline in their standard of living.

The median home price in the U.S. is six times the median annual income3—fifty years ago it was two times—and the share of first-time buyers4 is barely half the historical average and the lowest on record. Medical debt is the leading cause5 of consumer bankruptcy; half of American adults would not be able to cover a $500 medical bill without taking