Factors associated with a successful marriage in the United States are the spouse is the best friend, the spouse is like as a person, marriage is a long-term commitment, and that marriage is sacred. The social and psychological background of the vast majority of married couples in this society occur between two people of the same social class, within the same racial group, of the same religion, with similar levels of education, with the same physical and psychological characteristics, and who live within a few miles of each other.
             Divorce in the United States is associated with a number of factors such as age, socioeconomic class, duration of marriage, race, religious affiliation and attendance. How divorce affects children depends on their age. Youngsters are usually frightened or bewildered when they learn their parents will no longer be living together. Older children are better able to understand although they may become anxious wanting to know how they will be affected. Teenagers are more likely for breaking up the family.
             The number of single-parent families has gone up so dramatically over the past thirty years in the United States because there has been a one hundred sixty percent increase in single mothers and nearly twice as much for single fathers. Children raised in single-parent families are worse off in comparison to those who are not. These children are less likely to graduate from high school or college, more likely to become pregnant teenagers, and more likely to be unemployed and out of school.
             Advocates of homosexuality ague that marriages would reduce promiscuity in the gay community and diminish the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, nor would it weaken the family. Opponents believe that marriage is the union of individuals of different sexes. The sexual orientation of children raised by homosexual parents appears to be unaffected.
             About 6.9 million children are abused each year. The princi...