Tuesday, March 16, 2010

More Than The Luck of the Irish


posted by Michele Olson

As we are about to celebrate the Luck of the Irish and all thing green, it’s a good time to take a look at an article that appeared in the Irish Examiner. This article looks at what is adding to marital problems in Ireland.

Two subjects: the economy and the Internet.

It’s a “leg bone connected to the ankle bone” situation.
Economic hardships= higher stress levels.
More free time and more work required from home = more time on the Internet.
More time on the Internet = relationship distractions like pornography, cyber sex, gambling and yes, less real life communication at home.

The need for counseling for one firm went up 11% since 2007, the number of clients with financial problems increased by 71%, while issues around the use of the Internet increased by 87.5%. Rates of depression and stress in clients were up 14% and 12% respectively.

But the article still states, communication, stress and sexual intimacy were the most common problems in a relationship.

Here’s a beautiful Irish statistic: “Of the 30,000 couples who chose to get married in a Catholic Church in Ireland in the last two years, about 70% attended marriage preparation services with Accord. “ That’s just one provider who charges based on income, so the marriage prep statistic is probably even higher than 70%!

Oh, how I wish we could have the same statistic in the USA! Wouldn’t it be marvelous to say 70% of Americans took a pre-marital course? An online engaged couples inventory is available for anyone on our website; thinkmarriage.org

It’s interesting that the couples in Ireland are experiencing many of the same issues being faced by Americans.
Being prepared for marriage and working on it continually with marriage education….now that is better than the luck of the Irish!


2 comments:

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thinkmarriage.org said...

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