Marriage & Parenting
What is marriage?
Marriage is an emotional and legally binding commitment between two people. A marriage can secure the emotional, familial, and even financial connection between two people. For young parents, marriage may also mean creating a stable and supportive environment for children as well as positive modeling for healthy relationships and communication. There are many different types of marriage, but most common are traditional, legal, common law, religious, and parenting. Legal rights within a marriage vary by state, but after getting legally married, couples commonly have financial, medical, property, tax benefits and responsibilities.
What makes a healthy marriage?
Marriage is built on a foundation of love, partnership, and companionship. A healthy marriage is built on trust, communication, respect, and shared goals. Goal setting as a couple is an important way to be sure that you and your partner are on the same page in terms of education, career, finances, parenting, family planning, and so much more! This can promote healthy communication, accountability, and make couples feel more connected. Marriage is not always perfect, but it is important that both partners are willing to grow, compromise, and work through challenges together in order to maintain a healthy marriage. Things that contribute to a healthy marriage are:
- Open and honest communication
- Mutual respect and emotional support
- Conflict resolution and problem-solving skills
- Shared responsibilities (parenting, finances, household)
- Healthy boundaries and individual space
- Sexual and emotional intimacy
- Growth mindset and willingness to seek help
Benefits of a healthy marriage
A strong marriage can have positive effects on children and parenting for couples. A healthy marriage can support positive mental health, healthy parenting, and stronger relationships with your support network. Shared financial and parenting responsibilities can lower stress, improve mental health, and make couples feel more connected and supported.
How can marriage impact parenting?
Marriage can impact parenting positively or negatively depending on the health of the marriage. A healthy marriage helps parents work together as a team, which has positive impacts on their parenting relationship and their child(ren). Positive impacts of marriage on parenting include:
- Co-parenting and shared parenting responsibilities
- Modeling healthy relationships for children
- Modeling of healthy communication and conflict resolution
- Opportunities for self-care (couple time and personal time)
- Partnership around discipline, routines, and parenting roles
A healthy marriage is possible and has many benefits for the health and well-being of the family unit as a whole!
Resources
- The National Healthy Marriage Resource Center: https://healthymarriageandfamilies.org
- Love is Respect – 1-866-331-9474 or text “LOVEIS” to 22522 For relationship questions and dating/domestic violence support: https://www.loveisrespect.org
- Focus on the Family Marriage Help: https://www.focusonthefamily.com/marriage or Local churches or mosques often offer premarital and marital counseling
