Marriage and Its Benefits

I wonder how many individuals have taken the time to gather the pros and cons of marriage, and how beneficial it is to everyone including, families and our society. In the article, " Benefits of Marriage," http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=IS05B01 it lists the benefits, which seems to be a lot, of people who decided to get married. According to the article, marriages were at an all time low in 2002, but with that said, there was an increase in the number of cohabitating couples and children born out of wedlock. These statistics do not seem to be such a surpise, but it indicates that many Americans do not consider the traditional ways of marriage or prefer "testing the waters" before they make such a major decision. Since cohabititation is so common in today's society, it is no longer a taboo like it was 30 years or so ago. This article does a superb job listing and explaining briefly how the benefits of marriage affects every person in the family by reducing less risky behaviors, complementary parental roles, template for future marriage, economically and academically inclined, and it forms a better parent/child relationship. Furthermore, it marriage and how it impacts society as well.