About this item
Highlights
- A Next Big Idea Club Must-ReadWhat's the recipe for happiness?
- Author(s): Brad Wilcox
- 320 Pages
- Political Science, Political Ideologies
Description
About the Book
"Marriage expert Brad Wilcox provides the evidence for why marriage is the most fundamental and worthwhile social institution"--Book Synopsis
A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read
What's the recipe for happiness? If you listen to liberal elites or red pill influencers, you'd say it's making money, living for yourself, and staying single without kids--and you'd be wrong. Nothing predicts happiness better than a good marriage.
According to new research by the University of Virginia sociologist Brad Wilcox, our kids and communities--not to mention our civilization as a whole--are much more likely to flourish when the state of our unions is strong. Despite this, record numbers of Americans are not succeeding at getting or staying married.
In this hard-hitting book, Wilcox reveals the anti-family messages and policies coming out of Holly-wood, Washington, the media, academia, and corporate America that have weakened marriage. Along the way, he knocks down a number of myths they've propa-gated. He reveals:
- Both men and women who get and stay married accumulate much greater wealth than people who don't marry.
- Married men and women with families report more meaningful lives, compared with their single and childless peers.
- Couples who take a "we-before-me" approach to married life--by, for instance, sharing joint checking accounts--are happier and less divorce-prone than couples who do not.
- Couples who forge "family-first" marriages--characterized by frequent date nights, family fun time, and chores done with the kids--enjoy the happiest marriages.
Wilcox spotlights four groups--Asian American, Conservative, Faithful, and Strivers--who have built strong, stable marriages by defying the me-first mes-sages of our elites in favor of a family-first way of life.
This is a book for anyone who wants to under-stand why, even as fewer men and women tie the knot, America's most fundamental institution matters for our civilization more than ever. And for men and women looking to establish strong, stable, and happy unions for themselves and their children, Get Married reveals the road forward.
Review Quotes
"Vitally Important." -- David Brooks
"Finally a book from academia which tells the truth about the value of marriage. Based on sound research and real-life examples, Brad Wilcox calls for a return to the fundamental building block of a healthy society. I wish every adult in America could read this book." -- Gary Chapman, author of The Five Love Languages
"Brad Wilcox is an indispensable asset to those who still believe in traditional virtue. His data on marriage is invaluable; his analysis clear and incisive. This book is a godsend." -- Ben Shapiro
"Get Married is a compelling read from the first page, showing that marriage, far from the happiness killer the media-verse makes it out to be, is instead consistently and solidly linked to more happiness and better mental health. With marriage and fertility rates falling, there has never been a better time for a convincingly comprehensive yet still eminently readable book like Get Married." -- Jean M. Twenge, author of Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents--and What They Mean for America's Future
"It's rare that someone offers a simple formula to improve happiness, health, and prosperity, but Brad Wilcox masterfully does just that in Get Married. Read this book and share its truths with the people you love." -- Arthur C. Brooks, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Get Married is a terrific read. Intelligent, packed with data and great illustrative stories, and unafraid to take a stand even against the 'powers-that-be', Get Married has something to offer for teens, parents, young romantic couples, married couples, academics and lawmakers alike." -- Helen Alvaré, Robert A. Levy Professor of Law at George Mason University
"Brad Wilcox is one of the most important public intellectuals in the world today. He also tells the truth, and he does so brilliantly in Get Married." -- R. Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
"Brad Wilcox scales a mountain of research to help us better see what we are missing: Marriage plays a paramount role in the American way of life. We are more secure as a nation made up of strong family-first marriages. Impressive in its scope and staggering in its implications, Get Married gives us a new vista from which to view society's ills - and more importantly - how to cure them." -- Drs. Les & Leslie Parrott #1 New York Times bestselling authors of Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts
"As Americans increasingly prioritize lifestyle choices that keep them from being 'tied down, ' Brad provides some fascinating and frightening research we can't afford to ignore. Drawing from a number of large social studies, he shows how marriage still provides security and happiness for couples, children--and society as a whole--like nothing else can. Get Married is a timely exhortation to keep defending this indispensable institution." -- Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley, co-authors of Reconnected: Moving from Roommates to Soulmates in Marriage
"By all material accounts, America should be the happiest country in the history of the world. Instead, happiness is plummeting, and our country is being rocked by epidemics of loneliness, addiction, and suicide. Why? Brad Wilcox gives a compelling answer... Get Married is vital reading for anyone who seeks to understand why our social fabric is decaying--and anyone who seeks to break the cycle of decline." -- Marco Rubio, United States Senator, bestselling author of Decades of Decadence