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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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 OPINION 
4

While We're At It, Give Marriage a Bailout

Recession, laws making it more expensive, so make nuptials easier

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(Newser) – Between the recession and various legal knots, it’s no wonder so many Americans are eschewing marriage, Mark Penn writes in the Wall Street Journal. Either go with the bailout flow and revamp tax codes and the like to make marriage easier and less financially constrictive, or use similar tactics to make life easier for “committed cohabiters…the fastest-growing kind of household in the US.”

Among the marriage-stimulus ideas: tax breaks, “yes-fault divorce,” and a spouse holiday like Mother’s Day. “Make 25 the golden anniversary. And for those who make it to 50 years, hell, give them the Hope Diamond,” Penn writes. Alternatively, marketers and politicians can embrace cohabitation and lift the societal barriers that make life, and death, difficult for partners.

More couples are opting to say
More couples are opting to say "'til life drives us apart."   (Shutterstock)
Just as Americans expect to hold more jobs nowadays, they anticipate multiple partners over time.
Just as Americans expect to hold more jobs nowadays, they anticipate multiple partners over time.   (Shutter stock)
Americans are still pairing up for the long haul, but fewer see marriage as the way to do it.
Americans are still pairing up for the long haul, but fewer see marriage as the way to do it.   (Shutterstock)
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If marriage was meant to be 'til death do us part,' cohabitation is a little more like 'til life drives us apart.' - Mark Penn

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4 comments
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donrus
Feb 3, 09 8:17 PM CST
What! You mean tax codes are destroying the family? Here all this time I thought it was gay marriage, atheistic freedom hating liberals, etc. I guess I have been listening to the American Taliban too long. There are a lot of reasons why people don't get married, finances beung just one of them. It is, of course, a very important consideration among the immoral cohabitating seniors. Those naughty grannies and dirty old men! Reply
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radnip
Feb 4, 09 2:40 AM CST
Get real. Forget the expensive stupid dress, the expensive stupid cake, the expensive stupid ring and save all that for a down payment or rent or food or clothing or healthcare for the future family! Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
Shannonals
Feb 4, 09 3:32 PM CST
Sound idea. So many couples go into debt having the, "perfect" wedding, than have to spend years paying it off.
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boom
Feb 5, 09 3:24 AM CST
Those "marriage stimulus" ideas sound pretty unmotivating. And sorry, but: harder divorce? Yeah that makes me want to rush out and get hitched. Doofus. Reply
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