Illinois Parenting Class for Divorce

If you are parents of children under 18 and want to get a divorce in Illinois, the State has decided you need counseling and will require you to spend 4 hours being counseled. Costs to each of you will be $75 for the course. I'm sure the Illinois Psychological Association lobbied hard for these customers who are forced to buy the counseling service.

Why does the State have to be a party to your marriage? Marriage is a contract between two individuals. Why do people go to the State and ask permission by buying a marriage license? Maybe couples should just get married by "jumping over a broom."

The State welfare laws and child support laws have made marriage unnecessary for a woman to have a man help support her and her children. A woman can have children out of wedlock and still be taken care of by the State or the State will force the father to pay child support and become a visitor to his children. Now with parenting laws the State is interfering more and is simply trying to do all things for all people. When two people get married the State is a third member to the marriage. No wonder fewer people are getting married. "From 1970 through 2008, the US marriage rate has declined from 76.5 to 37.4 marriages per 1,000 unmarried women."

If the State is going to support single moms the State should require all of the single moms to attend parenting classes. As long as the State requires young people to attend the government schools the State should require all high school students to attend parenting classes.

Another reason for the decline in marriage is technology that has allowed more women to avoid pregnancy. The birth rate in the U.S. has declined by 50% during the past century. Since technology now allows women to avoid pregnancy, women have time to pursue careers. With many more careers than were available in years past, women do not need to be married for economic support.

Charles Tolleson, Married Once, Divorced Once