Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe on A Child’s Stake in Marriage

It is easy to ignore children’s interests in marriage, when marriage is defined primarily as a couple relationship. Yet, children have a compelling stake in their parents’ marriage.  It is a source of social and economic advantage for them. It provides a reliable means of attaching their fathers to the family household over the long term. It brings together under one roof the two people who have brought them into the world and who have a mutual interest in their wellbeing.

At the same time, children are powerless to preserve or defend their stake in their parents’ marriage.

From State of Our Unions 2003-The Social Health of Marriage in America