As divorce rates skyrocket around the world, people everywhere are questioning whether marriage is outdated. Not so, argues 11-year-old Arsira Ittiphakorn, from Shrewsbury International School in Bangkok.
The concept of marriage is interesting. Thought to have been invented in Mesopotamia around 2350 BCE, marriage has continued to live on in different countries, cultures and religions.
However, after superstar singer Taylor Swift got engaged to Travis Kelce, debates have arisen about whether or not marriage is still relevant. Some people say it is, but some say it is not.
According to a study from the Institute for Family Studies, out of 2,000 adults who were either married or who had been married, one in three said that they would not have remained together for the first 10 years of marriage, had they not been actually married. Without being married, these couples would have split up. Instead, for many, their bond strengthened and their love for each other continued to grow, increasing their lifelong happiness and health.
Furthermore, according to City Journal, science shows that it is not good for people to live alone. In pretty much every way that social scientists can measure, people who are married fare a lot better than those who are unmarried or divorced.
Arguably this confirms what the Bible’s book of Genesis teaches: people who are married live much longer, healthier, happier and more prosperous lives.
In 20212, the NYU School of Medicine undertook a study that tracked 500 people undergoing heart surgery for 15 years. They found that married people were three times more likely to survive the next 15 years than unmarried ones. The study concluded that 83% of married patients survived after 15 years, while only 57% of unmarried patients lived that long. Why? The patient’s spouse made sure that the right medications were taken and appointments were made.
This, to me, proves that people who say marriage is outdated because divorce rates are rising are wrong. Marriage is the highest declaration of love, and while it may be expensive at first, for example, having to pay costly wedding fees, marriage is scientifically proven by multiple sources to get better in the long run.
On the medical website WebMD, Christopher Fagundes, PhD, psychologist and researcher at Ohio State University explains that there is considerably less risk-taking and substance abuse when couples marry, rather than just moving in together.
This, for me, is why marriage is not outdated. I would say that marriage is essential to our community, at a local and global scale. After all, who are any of us to tell someone that the true love declaration they believe in is outdated?
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