Bad example. Ask their children how the fill. Not good..

It's a personal choice. I don't think it should impact the children, as long as they know they are loved by both parents. I personally think it will save more time down the road, what's the percentage of folks getting a divorce these days? Why bother, just save time and money with the no marriage marriage.

comming from a family of divorse i can see why people dont get married . i choose not to marry b/c i like control of my life and making my own way in life and not wondering whats going to happen down the road.also kids adjust to having a single mom or dad every day.

I have been in a relationship for 5 years to a wonderful man. We have 2 kids and life couldn't be better. Lately we've been talking about getting married but after looking at the cost, etc we just don't see the need.
I say people must do what works for them and as long as they are in happy, healthy relationships and are committed to raising their kids then who is it hurting?

Goes against God, The Bible, and all that is decent in marriage.

If your in a long-term relationship and have no plans to get married - YOUR NOT REALLY COMMITTED TO EACH OTHER!!! People always want to make it easy to just walk away from each other and how convenient it is when your not married.

So you're saying that if your parents never get married and decide to go their own way after 10 years, it's OK? There still is community property, financial settlements and visitation rights. As a kid you are just scared that without a real committment that mom or dad can just walk out whenever something better comes along.

Who said it goes aginst God? where does it say in the bible that you are not to do that. that is just what society has made us believe. My parents were not married when i was born and i do not feel like they love me anyless. I am a Christian and i live with my longtime boyfriend and my two children and could never be happier. The cost of marriage is really expensive. Besides the only difference in a marrage and living together is a piece of paper. you can buy the rings and say i love you and live like you are married but the only thing that you any different is a piece of paper. It is simply a personal choice of the heart

If my partner and I were to get married, I would no longer qualify for grants to help pay for my extremely expensive medicine for multiple sclerosis (I take other medicines as well) and my SS disability income would become taxable. With the IRS marriage penalty added to regular IRS taxes, my friend the accountant estimated that right out of the gate, the cost to marry would be approximately $35,000 a year, every year, with increases expected. My love's job does not provide him with health insurance and he earns less than $50,000 a year. His health is fine currently, but even with his health completely out of the equation, marrying would still be financial suicide. It is sad but true.

In many circles, cohabitation is not acceptable behavior.

It locks people out of certain ways of life.

Many people think, “What else are those two people unable to commit to doing?”

For children, there’s a certain stigma attached to unmarried parents. The more stable home life you offer a child, the better off they’ll be. We can pretend that there isn't, but we're just pretending.

Just because some wealthy celebrities are doing it doesn’t mean it’s right.

Don't get married for what the rest of the world thinks, though. Show each other that you're in this, together, for the rest of your lives, no matter what.

OH! And, speaking of commitment: NBC needs to show that they are committed to Gail by getting a new photo of her for this web site! She's prettier than ever, with her new look. (We can't have her living in photo sin)!!!

70% of black (and 30% of white) American babies are born to single women (or girls).

This situation breeds poverty and perpetuates all that poverty brings....children more likely to be lacking in healthy meals, more suceptible to drug dealers who frequent low income areas, less likely to pursue higher education, more likely to have babies as teenagers themselves.

Celebrities who live together and have children without marrying do not have to worry about the poverty aspect and they apparently don't give a thought to the fact that their actions lead others into it.

Celebrities who profess to care about the state of the poor need to take a look at how their high profile behavior impacts the poor. That would be the proactive way to approach the problem, but preventing poverty in the first place would mean that celebrities would lose the opportunity to show their humanitarian side (which brings them positive publicity after all).

Drew said:
70% of black (and 30% of white) American babies are born to single women (or girls).

This situation breeds poverty and perpetuates all that poverty brings....children more likely to be lacking in healthy meals, more susceptible to drug dealers who frequent low income areas, less likely to pursue higher education, more likely to have babies as teenagers themselves.

Celebrities who live together and have children without marrying do not have to worry about the poverty aspect and they apparently don't give a thought to the fact that their actions lead others into it.

Celebrities who profess to care about the state of the poor need to take a look at how their high profile behavior impacts the poor. That would be the proactive way to approach the problem, but preventing poverty in the first place would mean that celebrities would lose the opportunity to show their humanitarian side (which brings them positive publicity after all).

Celebrities can get away with it because they have money. Your relationship falls apart? Each has made millions so they'll just buy their own mansion. Kids? I'm sure trust funds are put in place before they're even born, and with the millions each parent has - how to pay for school, clothes, food and other essentials is a non-issue.

If you're not worth millions, I'm sure the fight for child support is incredibly difficult if you were never married. And dividing up communal assests aquired during the relationship without the legal backing of a divorce would be difficult. Unless you kept a meticulous record of who paid for what over the years.

I was married once and have to say I would not do it again. I have told my present boyfriend that I would commit to him forever but will never marry him. Marriage in today's world comes down to a legal binding agreement; it is little else. I can make a commitment to decide to be with someone forever without needing to become legally responsible for their debt or bad behavior. It becomes a choice that you make every day to stay or go rather then staying together because its easier than going through the legal woes of getting divorced.

Marriage is not just a piece of paper. It is a commitment before GOD to love honor and cherish each other foresaking all others for better or worse. At least that is what GOD intended it to be. Unfortunetely may young people getting married nowadays don't take this vow seriously. They bail when the worse part comes. It also protects a woman with little kids or no job skills in the event her husband abandons her. She will be entitled to half of all the savings and community property etc. Without that piece of paper your entitled to nothing except for child support (if the guy don't go into hiding that is.) Personally I like the security of knowing I won't be put out on the street and can fight for my home and my 50% of the community property after 30 years of marriage.

it is a personal choice,that every individual has to make for themselves.marriage is right for some,but not for all. in reguards to god, well proclaiming love in a church wont really make a heck of a difference if you end up in divorice court anyways.you spent a fortune,got in debt or if you saved/just wealthy doesnt matter.but no matter what you do,if someone doesnt want to be with you anymore,then no papers or church wedding will change the outcome.and if someone wants to bail as some put it,a piece of paper wont change it,theyll still walk out.only difference is that its a lot more messy cus both individuals are hurt and ultimately the kids pay for it. cus then some individuals use whatever they can as levridge. so as i said,its a personal choice and no one should be condemned based on the choice they believe is right for them/they're situation.

i think it's a slap in the face to people who are actually committed enough to get married. others argue that it's just a piece of paper. if that's the case - why no go through with it? it's a legal document that ties to the two people together. in my opinion, as a married woman, i feel that a couple who does not get married is not truly committed to a long term, till death relationship. it's their choice, but don't tell me it's the same as being married. my husband and i were in a long-term, co-habitating relationship before we married, but marriage has made everything different - and better.

To all you idiots saying marriage is expensive its not. Walk to the courthouse and get married. Only a couple of hundred bucks if even that. You can get married in jeans and a shirt. If its a party you want, then its lame not to get married becase you can't have a freakin party. What are you 5? Saying its too expensive is a cop out. If you won't commit yourself to one person because of the cost of the part you selfishly want, you don't deserve to be married or reproduce. You are too immature to be married.

"To all you idiots saying marriage is expensive its not. Walk to the courthouse and get married. Only a couple of hundred bucks if even that. You can get married in jeans and a shirt. If its a party you want, then its lame not to get married becase you can't have a freakin party. What are you 5? Saying its too expensive is a cop out. If you won't commit yourself to one person because of the cost of the part you selfishly want, you don't deserve to be married or reproduce. You are too immature to be married."
My thoughts exactly.

That is why there is so much divorce. Nobody values marriage anymore. Those that have been married 50 years will be non-existent in our lifetime if we don't change our ways.

It does go against God as you are to have sex only with your husband or your wife. No sex otherwises! Now, think about it. If that is what we believe in the Bible, we would all be getting married and committing to someone for life.

A marriage license has NOTHING to do with God, go ahead, look at it! It is a contract between you, your spouse, and the STATE you live in! That is polygamy!!!!!

Marriage licenses weren't even in existence until when? The early 1900's.....so what did they do before that? You simply were together!! Do you need a piece of paper to prove your committment? I certainly don't! A marriage license just makes the dissolution of a relationship messy....

Pretty sure that those with the views of the necessity of a marriage license have never been married or are still in their first marriage....if you have been divorced, you realize that the license did nothing to contribute to the sanctity of ur marriage.....or to keep u together.....

My man and I have been in a relationship going on three years, we live together, and we expect to spend the rest of our lives together. Why don't we get married? Precisely because we trust each other. We have enough security between ourselves that we don't need to fit out relationship within some pre-existing architecture created by other people, i.e., marriage, just to make it feel more permanent. Relatedly, we have no interest in inviting the government, some church, or even the community to give us their stamps of approval. We need no one's blessing, and, speaking for myself, I want no semblance of outside authority hovering over our relationship. I view marriage -- the formality of it, the city clerk's stamping a certificate (which is the minimum one must do to marry), etc. -- as just such a submission to some authority beyond our own consent. That is anathema to me. I am also not interested in the extra security that people seem to think marriage imposes on their relationship, and the virtue they think that security is. I prefer to have to be good for my man every day, to give him a reason to be pleased to have me in his life every day, and for that -- his happiness -- alone determine his commitment to me, not some artificial contract binding him to me regardless of whether I have earned that commitment. This seems to me a great ideal to hold one's self to.

It's pretty tacky that the people who argue FOR couples getting married are the same ones keeping some of my happy friends from getting married. Let's get this straight: Happily Committed Tim and Erin MUST get married, but Happily Committed Tim and Aaron CANNOT get married?

What happened to Land of the Free?

I do not believe that getting married makes any relationship stronger. I think that people should do what is right for them and not worry about what others think. Me and my husband recently got married after being together for 6 years, but it was not because of us, my husbands father felt he needed to marry me,it was the proper thing to do, so for family sake we did. We didn't spend a fortune (probably 1000.00) and have a nice quiet family wedding. Nothing feels different, We still love each other as if it were the first day we met, and it would be that way without the paper. Honestly we probably still wouldn't be married if it were not for family.

I'm getting married in June. I really want to because I believe it is the right thing to do. We have a child together and live together right now. It seems like it's the next step. HOWEVER...it is expensive. And I'm not talking about the wedding. Right now we qualify for help from the state for healthcare and daycare. Plus my taxes are about $5000 a year. The day we get married this all ends. I've always worked but when they start including his income with mine WE will make too much to qualify. He's a farmer so we will have no insurance and daycare will begin to cost me $110 a WEEK. Right now I'm frantically sending resumes and searching for employment that has benefits. The job I have right now doesn't offer health insurance. I'm really scared. The government does nothing to help those who help themselves...it's no wonder there are so many single mothers out there. The government is practically paying for them to have children.

I used to want to get married, but as I've grown up a little bit (I am now 32), watched friends go through messy divorces, watch friend's husbands or wives ruin their financial healthiness, etc. I have really begun to evaluate marriage. I believe marriage was created to protect women. Women would spend their lives supporting their husbands & children, while their husbands went out and worked. It would also ensure his property was her property at the time of his death. But, today, with the exception of tradition - there seems to be less and less reason to get married. Both partners are working. Both partners are free to spend. It appears to make more sense to stay separate.

to karen - no, people weren't just 'together'. they still got married, they still said vows in front of a priest, and yes, there were ways to make it legal before the 1900s. the wedding ceremony goes back waaaay before that. if you're gonna try to argue something, at least use accurate information. marriage licenses may be a relatively new concept, but religious and/or legal ceremonies to perform a marriage are ancient history.

i also don't understand why people seem to think a 'piece of paper' or getting legally married somehow takes away from the relationship. i'm not forcing my husband to be with me; i don't slack off or take him for granted. a good relationship makes a good marriage, and when you value your partner, you want to stand up in front of people and commit to each other in the eyes of god and in the eyes of the state.