91Èȱ¬

« Previous | Main | Next »

Is marriage for life?

Krupa Thakrar Padhy Krupa Thakrar Padhy | 10:01 UK time, Thursday, 3 June 2010

Alandtipper.jpgAmerica's model marriage just got a not so happy ending. Al and Tipper Gore . Family friends say the high school sweethearts . What's happened to 'happily ever after'?

Many of you have been saddened by the news prompting questions like "?" But is 'till death do us a part' simply a dying concept?

how any marriage can last forever - today's environment just doesn't allow for it.

40 years is an eternity in marriage years - which is why believes that the Gore's marriage was a success, not a failure. calls them role models.

For divorces in later life are not as rare as you might think.

, Professor of family studies at Evergreen State College agrees,

"The idea used to be that by our sixties, life was pretty much over anyway," says Coontz. "But today, people who reach 65 are likely to have another 20 years ahead. So it makes the calculus of living in an unhappy marriage even harder to take...with longer life expectancies, there are more potential new partners out there - "what we call a thicker remarriage market,"

. Sociology professor Linda Waite believes there's too much to lose.


"You have joint friends, you have assets in common, you have children in common, you've formed your interests around each other's interests. You have a history that nobody else will ever have with you."

Should we just Or after decades of marriage is it really worth ?


91Èȱ¬ iD

91Èȱ¬ navigation

91Èȱ¬ © 2014 The 91Èȱ¬ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.