Knot Yet! #5: Responsibility Phobia

What comes first, maturity or the responsibility? In the world of adultescence, the absence of the necessity to be responsible, delays maturity. Most of us look back at adolesence and shiver – it’s a tough time developmentally when the young person is reaching for independence but doesn’t quite have the mental resources to cope with adulthood. Many…

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When should Goldilocks marry?

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Almost everyone has an opinion about the optimum age to marry – usually heavily influenced by their own happy or unfortunate history. But what does the research tell us? A recent study by Nicholas Wolfinger (USA) and reported in the Institute of Family Studies (here) challenges the common perception that divorce incidence decreases with age…

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Marrying Young

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Almost everyone has an opinion about the optimum age to marry but what does the data tell us? We had an interesting call recently from a priest who had just interviewed an engaged couple. He was looking for some marriage preparation as the couple were ‘very young’. As he went on, it became apparent that…

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Knot Yet! #4: Marriage Horizon

What comes first: maturity or marriage? Most of us think that maturity should precede marriage, but research suggests that marriage itself is a maturing process. Marriage and family are well known to have a ‘civilising’ influence on participants. We really noticed this impact in ourselves when we had our first child. All of a sudden…

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