France: Marriage Rate Drops as Birth Rate Rises

[Alcon]

Thats bizzare and disturbing.

If they're in monogamous, loving relationships, what difference does it make if they have some ceremony at the start of it?

You don't get married because you have to have some ceremony. You get married because you want to.  You want to stand up in front of everybody and tell the world, "This is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with!"

That saying you’ve made a commitment to someone you love is all well and good, but if you’re not willing to yell about it from the tallest mountain top, how the hell good can it be?

It’s not about making the commitment, it’s about celebrating that commitment and wanting to share it with everyone.  If you’re not willing to do that for each other, then maybe it's not worth keeping.

PS:  I'm a bit drunk right now, so that might have been a bit over the top

Because some people don't like wasting money to yell it from the mountaintop?  Because some people think having kids alone qualifies for that?

[Alcon]

And those kids will always be always be wondering why. They’ll be wondering if their parents really love each other, and then they’ll be wondering if they really love them.

And you don't have to have a big fancy wedding.  You can have a simple ceremony with a justice of the peace or something, no frills.

Do you know anyone who feels this way?  All of those I know with unmarried couples don't care about this at all.  On a day-by-day basis, it just doesn't matter.  And why in the world would it make them question whether their parents love them?  With divorce rates what they are, it doesn't seem to mean all that much anyway.

[Alcon]

Research suggests such homes provide less stability than ones with legal bonds.

1. Where is this research?
2. Did this distinguished stable, long-term unmarried couples from just-plain-unmarried couples?
3. What provides causation, as opposed to correlation, here?