Should you Save your Marriage for the Sake of your Children?

Marriage isn’t all about children and you shouldn’t just consider your children when thinking about whether or not to try and save your marriage but it is interesting to note what impact a failed marriage can have on the life of a child.

It is a well known fact that children who have happily married parents enjoy a better style of life and are, on average, physically healthier than other children. In addition, failing to save your marriage could reduce the likelihood that your children will finalise their education, limit their achievements and double the chances of your children being unable to save their own marriage in the future.

Children from happily married backgrounds tend to enjoy far more of the more material aspects of life, with married men generally earning more than single men, and more often than not have a far better relationship with their fathers.

There are certain and obvious financial implications if you are unable to save your marriage with divorce significantly reducing the family income thus restricting your ability to provide for your family and pushing many women into the poverty zone.

Often the short term negative impact on your life when learning how to save your marriage is far more preferable (often in hindsight) than the stress of divorce with arguments over access, the strain on your finances and the continual battle of trying to run a household single handed. The transition from married to single (when you are unable to save your marriage) often destroys a significant part of your children’s childhood, a period which we soon learn if very precious and should be valued.

Many partners suffer from depression on marriage break up and when this affects the parent who has custody of the children the impact can be devastating with the children feeling unwanted and unloved and failing to understand the reasoning behind why the marriage (their family life) could not be saved.

Marriage is important for the upbringing of your children. What happens in the early years often has a significant bearing on their teenage and adult years and generally has a significant bearing on how their life turns out. Obviously a less than harmonious marriage is not a good environment for a child but when giving consideration as to whether or not to try and save your marriage or head for the divorce courts it is worth considering the impact on the family as a whole. 

I would never advocate that you save your marriage just because of the impact a broken home can have on a child but I do suggest that you should consider your next step very carefully and make totally sure that there is no way you can fix your marriage problems and be 100% sure that you are unable to save your marriage before destroying what could be, with a little help and guidance, a precious and enjoyable family life.