MARRIAGE AND THE DOWNHILL MARCH

______(2006) THE WEEK (2006) 3/3/ 19

The peak of the marriage is when one gets married. Then comes the wedding day and it is all down hill from there.

Researchers at the University of Zurich asked marrieds (15,000 of them) to assess a value from one to ten .When they were single, they ranked themselves at 7.6. After marriage, the feelings of both sexes grew to 7.8. After 10 years, it slid to 7.4. Two major variables seemed to emerge.

Kids have become stressors in the 21st century and the females sex drive drops.

At this point in the study, experts are asked to comment. They have the usual bromides. Marriage is something that you work at and communication is important.

What the reader does not know is 1) what is the cycle like for never marrieds who do date often?

2) what is like for those who divorce and remarry? 3) what is it like for those who lose a loved one to death and never remarry? 4) how does the individual deal with some usual deal breakers in marriage such as fights over money and fights over sex? 5) are there differences without having children to those that have one, two or many?

The study ended at the 16th year.