Watch Marriage Matters! Tonight at 10:00

Friday, May 19th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Oklahoma has a large stake in strengthening marriages. Marriage typically improves the health and economic well being of adults, stabilizes community life, benefits civic society and provides children with the best chance to thrive and succeed.

With the second-highest divorce rate in the country, Oklahomans can no longer take marriage for granted. While the challenge in Oklahoma is extreme, the problem is a
national one. The United States has the highest divorce rate in the world. Some of the national data is staggering:

* Fewer than 50% of Americans today
include 'being married' as part of their definition of family values.

* Only 140 of white women who married in the early 1940s eventually divorced, whereas almost half of white women who married in the late 1960s and early 1970s have already become divorced. For African-American women, the figures are 18% and nearly 60%.

* In 1970, there was one unmarried-couple household for every 100 married couple households; today there are seven.

Find out what is different about the couples that stay happily married. Join Terry Hood and Paul Serrell for Marriage Matters!
tonight at 10:00 on KOTV - The News on Six. Oklahoma's News Leader.