Thursday, February 12, 2015

Economic Obstacles to Marriage


Marriage, having children, is no longer something we can take for granted or expect of the young. We hear often that one of the reasons for the low birthrate in Korea is deferring marriage to late in life. An article in the Catholic Times reminds the readers what the young people have to face when they contemplate  marriage.

Many do not have regular jobs which means that the salaries are low and envisioning marriage is not something they can easily do. Many have to pay back the debt for their schooling, and the prospects of requiring another big debt for marriage is demoralizing. Birth of a child and the schooling that is necessary goes into the 100,000s of dollars.

The article mentions a poster which explains to the older generation: we can't judge the young people as thoughtless and selfish; society does not make raising a family easy. The family is the basic community in society and when this is destroyed society ceases to exist. In Catholic social teaching the family does not exist for society or the nation, but the nation and society exist for the family.

This is the principle of subsidiarity. Pope Francis continues to speak of the failure of the economic system that puts money ahead of the human person. We are destroying the family and making persons serve the system.

As Christians we know that God has made men and women to join together as husband and wife, to raise a family. Today, however, society which we have made does not  promote the raising of a family. The structures of society make the raising a family, according to Christian principles, difficult. The structures of society also make young people unsympathetic to the teachings of the Church on sexual morality.

Structures of society are in opposition to the commands of God and are harmful to humans. What  God wants from us, has in Jesus been given to the Church. This has become our mission. We have to help our young people find a way to join together in marriage and raise a family.This requires a change in the structures of society.