Arlene Pellicane: National Marriage Week (Every Feb. 7-14)

ALCAP President Greg Davis visited with Arlene Pellicane, Spokesperson for National Marriage Week (February 7th-14th), to discuss marriage trends and why marriage matters. Marriage (between one man and woman) is an institution founded by God in Genesis as the foundation for family and society, and thus is extremely important. Pellicane explained the purpose of National Marriage Week:

“The idea [behind National Marriage Week] is we want to help unite people who believe in marriage and shift the culture so that when you think of marriage, you think ‘oh, that’s really good for kids, that’s really good for couples, that’s good for society, we love marriage!’ versus ‘ugh, who needs marriage? It’s just a piece of paper, and it’s going to end in divorce anyways, why bother?’ So we really want to encourage the next generation to take a second look at marriage and strengthen marriages as they are already happening here in America.”

The conversation turned to current statistics on marriage, with Arlene Pellicane sharing some sobering numbers: “In the 1960s, 88% of men age 25-35 would’ve been married, so it would’ve been common. Today, that number is only 30%… We have to ask ourselves, ‘Why such a shift?'”

She mentions the common argument that is made against marriage: “Why should I get married if many marriages end in divorce?” She answers that point by saying that the numbers show that almost 60% of marriages do not end in divorce, contrary to popular opinion. What if we made a commitment to stay committed, instead of entering marriage with a defeatist mentality? When polling divorcees on why they got divorced, she said that 75% of respondents answered with “a lack of commitment” as the main reason for the divorce. These numbers can be changed with intentionality.

This is where National Marriage Week comes into play. The goal is to equip and encourage, and help couples pursue a “lasting love.” This year, National Marriage Week is offering free livestreams every day of the week (7th-14th) on topics that are extremely important for marriages. Topics include “making a safe place for conflict,” “becoming parents,” “keeping the fun alive,” and more.

To listen to their entire informative conversation, click here.