National Marriage Week is February 7-14

“Love Beyond Words” is the theme for this year’s National Marriage Week, which will take place from February 7 to 14. This year’s mission encourages couples to put their love into action and raise awareness of the profound positive impact that strong marriages have on society.

“Marriage is something wonderful to be celebrated,” said Arlene Pellicane of National Marriage Week. “The whole idea is to help people celebrate, to help our society value marriage and then support marriages by providing them with resources to become more successful in their marital journey. You don’t have to come from a happy home to create one.”

READ: Decline in church attendance tied to unhealthy marriages

The annual event coincides with the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, making it the perfect time to celebrate the joys and virtues that marriage brings. Research consistently demonstrates that married couples experience great health, financial stability and personal happiness. This weeklong program will challenge couples to put their love into action and provide couples with practical tools and resources through ideas and activities for daily connection, weekly dates and regular getaways.

The week-long event, which began in the United Kingdom in 1996 and expanded to the United States in 2002, is now led by The Marriage Initiative. This not-for-profit organization offers a comprehensive toolkit featuring trusted and proven resources for couples facing challenges in their marriage, a national calendar of marriage-enhancing events and date nights, and innovative ideas on how to promote the importance of marriage.

A new Institute for Family Studies report found that strong families are associated with less crime in cities across the United States,. The total crime rate in cities with high levels of single parenthood are 48 percent higher than those with low levels of single parenthood. When it comes to violent crime and homicide, cities with high levels of single parenthood have 118 percent higher rates of violence and 255 percent higher rates of homicide. In general, public safety is greater in communities where two-parent families are the dominant norm.

A number of resources to strengthen marriage are available at www.marriageweek.org.