Federal Money Being Used To Promote Marriage

I learned this morning through the Detroit Free Press that federal money is being spent on a public service campaign touting the benefits of getting married, hoping to inspire younger people to take the leap sooner than current trends indicate. There are a few things that rub me the wrong way about this.

1. $5 million of federal money is being spent on this.
Come on...couldn't this money be better spent elsewhere? We're in the midst of a recession trying to keep our heads above water here.

2. Does it really make sense to "push" people into getting married?
I think marriage works best when people decide that they're ready to get married, even if it takes a longer time frame than "normal" to come to that decision.

I liken the decision of when to marry to the decision regarding when to have kids. When Adriano and I first got married, when asked if we wanted kids our response was, "We think so, but aren't sure when." Today our answer is different. "Yes. We plan to start trying next year." We're ready now, we weren't then. We weren't spending a lot of time thinking about it because we weren't ready. Everything comes in due time if it's right.

3. Do we really need to put more social pressure on people to act a certain way?
For every decision that we have in life, someone else has an opinion or judgment regarding whether we've made the right choice. This happens enough amongst our peers and family. Does the government really need to get involved as well? I don't think so.

I actually think young people need to be taught more independent thinking skills. They need to be able to distinguish between what social norms predict they should do next and what they feel the right next decision is for them. Had I gone by the social norm of my hometown, I would have been married at 21, with my first kid at 22. But that's not the path that I wanted for myself. Instead, I got married at 26 and still have no kids. And I have no regrets about the choices that I've made to date. I think by getting married at a slightly later age, I've been able to be a better wife. Likewise, I think I'll be able to be a better mom in my 30s than I probably would have been in my 20s.

4. If the government is going to start endorsing messages regarding marriage, then maybe they should embrace a consistent message.
I find it extremely ironic that the government is spending so much money to encourage marriage amongst heterosexual couples, while simultaneously spending great amounts of energy and money working to prohibit the unions of homosexuals. If the whole point of this public service campaign is to highlight the benefits of marriage (which are "better health, greater wealth and more happiness for the couple" according to research), then why is the message different dependent of whether you're gay or straight? It seems a little hypocritical to me.

Bottom line
I think the government is entering territory that it has no business being in. I think this is an irresponsible use of federal money and the messages that this campaign seeks to deliver are messages that are much more effective when delivered at a local level, like at your community center, church, etc.