Aggregation of real-time updates on relationship and marriage news, research, and global trends compiled by Marc Payan
 twitter / imarriageAlltop. We're kind of a big deal.
Fighting for Your Marriage: A Deluxe Revised Edition “Instead of just fighting about money or how frequently to have sex, couples are also fighting about time spent of Facebook or whether it’s OK to send a text during a romantic dinner or bring a laptop on a getaway weekend,” Howard Markman says. Regardless of modern challenges, the authors believe a happy and successful marriage is attainable. The book includes information based on the latest professional research and includes a DVD showing real couples learning how to improve their marriages under the guidance of the experts.

Fighting for Your Marriage: A Deluxe Revised Edition

“Instead of just fighting about money or how frequently to have sex, couples are also fighting about time spent of Facebook or whether it’s OK to send a text during a romantic dinner or bring a laptop on a getaway weekend,” Howard Markman says. Regardless of modern challenges, the authors believe a happy and successful marriage is attainable.

The book includes information based on the latest professional research and includes a DVD showing real couples learning how to improve their marriages under the guidance of the experts.


Report: Marrying Out

Marriages between spouses of different races and ethnicities are more common than ever before, say authors of a report by the Pew Research Center. A record 15% — about one out of every seven — of new marriages in 2008 landed in the “Marrying Out” category. 

study: Rise in loneliness due to divorce and family break-up

The number of UK children calling the national helpline Childline because they feel lonely has risen sharply. From April 2008 to March 2009, 5,525 children called the helpline due to loneliness, sadness or isolation, compared to 1,853 five years earlier. A further 4,399 children were counselled about loneliness as an additional problem, bringing the total to 9,924 - 6% of calls to the helpline. Counselors say changes within families and society could be behind the rise. Childline counsellors say changes within family structures and society as a whole could be behind the rise in these calls. ”Everyone’s so busy all the time,” said one counselor. ”The fact that families and people in general increasingly don’t eat together, and then go off and do their own things… I think that social skills among younger people are not being encouraged,” said another. They also suggest the rise may also be down to youngsters being better able to talk about feelings of loneliness. ”Some of the children who contact Childline are lonely because their parents are rowing or divorcing. Others are lonely because someone they love has died. (full article)

Infographic: Infidelity by the Numbers

Infographic: Infidelity by the Numbers


study: Happy marriage cuts fatal stroke risk for men

A study of 10,000 Israelis found both bachelors and those in loveless marriages had a far higher risk of fatal stroke than happily married men. As a society we should invest in relationship support because happy relationships benefit us all by contributing to people’s wellbeing, increasing productivity at work and improving people’s health.

How can I tell if my marriage is in trouble, and what can I do to prevent breakup?

Sue Johnson identifies warning signs in a marriage and what you can do to prevent issues from destroying your relationship.

World’s Longest-Married Couple to Answer Your Questions Via Twitter! The ‘Tweethearts’, from North Carolina, US, tied the knot in 1924. They have been married a whopping 85 years! You can find them on Twitter and Facebook. Link: Mashable news

World’s Longest-Married Couple to Answer Your Questions Via Twitter!

The ‘Tweethearts’, from North Carolina, US, tied the knot in 1924. They have been married a whopping 85 years! You can find them on Twitter and Facebook.

Link: Mashable news


Iowa State sociologists find older adults turning to online options for love, marriage The research found that spouses who met online are older and have much shorter courtships — averaging 18.5 months of dating before getting married by comparison to 42 months for those who met in more traditional ways offline. (Link)

Iowa State sociologists find older adults turning to online options for love, marriage

The research found that spouses who met online are older and have much shorter courtships — averaging 18.5 months of dating before getting married by comparison to 42 months for those who met in more traditional ways offline. (Link)


The Marriage Ref

Jerry Seinfeld is back and in the producer’s chair for a funny and revealing series about the unpredictable and hilarious institution we call marriage. Jerry has been out of the TV scene for 12 years and married for 10 years. I’m looking forward to the show. ;)

Link: @themarriageref

Modern Marriages: The Rise Of The Sugar Mama

A study by the Pew Research Center finds that there’s been a role reversal when it comes to men, women and the economics of marriage. ”We found that increasingly, women are more likely to marry husbands who have lower education levels than they do, and lower income levels than they do,” says D’Vera Cohn of the Pew Research Center. From 1970 to 2007, husbands whose wives earned more than they did jumped from 4 percent to 22 percent.

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Special Report: The Science of Falling and Staying in Love About half of first marriages fail in the U.S., as do two thirds of second marriages and three quarters of third marriages. We fail in large part because we enter into relationships with poor skills for maintaining them and highly unrealistic expectations. In the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Scientific American MIND Dr. Robert Epstein discusses how science can help you fall in love and stay there. Download: full PDF article related: Smart Marriages resources

Special Report: The Science of Falling and Staying in Love

About half of first marriages fail in the U.S., as do two thirds of second marriages and three quarters of third marriages. We fail in large part because we enter into relationships with poor skills for maintaining them and highly unrealistic expectations.

In the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Scientific American MIND Dr. Robert Epstein discusses how science can help you fall in love and stay there.

Download: full PDF article

related: Smart Marriages resources


Drunk 4-Year-Old Boy Steals Christmas

The boy followed his father’s footsteps and was found wandering the streets at 1:45 am drinking a beer.  ”He runs away trying to find his father,” said his mother. “He wants to get in trouble so he can go to jail because that’s where his daddy is.”

related: Relationship Skills for Incarcerated Fathers

Can watching porn hurt my relationship?

The Family Research Council released a new study Wednesday that comprehensively details the effects of pornography on marriages, children, communities and individuals.

Full report: PDF