Conclusions: Reinventing Marriage?

Abstract

This book has studied the role of the UK, Australian and US governments in attempting to regulate marriage in a time of massive social change. Even though the rational objective is to facilitate programs which address ways of improving people’s personal relationships, thereby possibly preventing marital breakdown, it has been controversial. This has been illustrated by the opposing views that marriage is either ‘in decline’ or ‘resilient’. Moreover, I have argued that marriage education will be difficult to implement successfully unless it is linked to policies that provide access to good jobs, health and education and other services. Strengthening marriage via education programs is a novel policy area covering unfamiliar territory for governments. Negotiating and developing skills in the context of intimate relations raises public policy concerns about protecting families and about promoting the well-being of children. There are, of course, no simple solutions to the problem of relationship instability, because any policy initiative will be dealing with intricate layers of people’s emotional and social lives.