Harvard Thinking Is marriage worth saving?
Mar 4, 2026
Eve Rodsky, bestselling author on household fairness; Richard Schwartz, Harvard psychiatrist studying marriage and loneliness; Debora Spar, HBS professor on tech and relationships. They trace marriage from economic contract to romantic ideal. They debate unequal domestic labor, rising parenting standards, loss of communal support, loneliness in single households, and policy and practical fixes for modern family life.
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Marriage Began As An Economic Transaction
- Marriage originally functioned as an economic and property-preserving institution rather than a romantic union.
- Deborah Spar traces marriage from tribal communal childrearing to agricultural property needs and the historical practice of 'giving away' daughters as transactional ties.
Love Is Now The Main Reason People Marry
- The move from necessity to choice shifted marriage toward romance so now many marry only for love if they marry at all.
- Deborah Spar says reproductive and social changes removed earlier economic drivers, making love the primary remaining reason to marry.
Marriage Benefits Aren't Equally Distributed
- Studies show marriage correlates with better health, happiness, and child outcomes, though benefits often favor men more than women.
- Richard C. Schwartz notes children do better academically and men gain larger health/happiness advantages in many studies.