Oklahoma marriage initiative : strategic plan to honor marriage & reduce divorce.

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OKLAHOMA MARRIAGE INITIATIVE
Strategic Plan to Honor Marriage & Reduce Divorce
Jerry Regier - Cabinet Secretary for Health and Human Services
(To view website, go to: www.governor.state.ok.us/marriageconf.htm )
respond to jerry.regier@gov.state.ok.us
As Governor Frank Keating and his leadership team went through the process of choosing priorities for his second term, it
became clear that there were four "family strengthening issues" requiring immediate attention. In both his second Inaugural
Address and State of the State Address, the Governor highlighted four social goals, with strengthening marriages as his top
priority because of Oklahoma's high divorce rate. The most current ranking of states indicates that in 1995, the National
Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ranked Oklahoma second (by state of residence) for
the highest divorce rate in the nation. Arkansas ranked first.
Furthermore, in 1998, 34 of 77 Oklahoma counties reported the number of divorce petitions filed exceeded the number of
marriage licenses, including three of our state's most populated counties:
• Oklahoma County, where 62,774 marriage licenses were filed compared to 65,373 divorce petitions filed during the
period of 1989 through 1997.
• Cleveland County, where 9,778 marriage licenses were filed compared to 11,979 divorce petitions filed during 1991
through 1998.
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Comanche County, where 7,375 marriage licenses were filed compared to 10,143 divorce petitions filed during
1991 thru 1998.
Although Oklahoma is among the nation's leaders in high divorce rates, the problem is not ours alone. The United States as a
whole has the highest divorce rate in the world. Some of the national data are staggering:
• Fewer than 50% of Americans today include "being married" as part of their definition of family values.
• The proportion of persons who disagree with the statement, "When there are children in the family, parents should
stay together, even if they don't get along," jumped from 51% in 1962 to 82% in 1985 back to 61% in 1993.
• In two decades, from 1970 to 1990, the percentage of married adults decreased from 72% to 62%.
• In 1970, there was one cohabitating couple for every 100 married-couple households. In 2000, there were eight
couples living together for every 100 married-couples.
The Governor's Goal for Oklahoma
In his Second Inaugural Address (January, 1999) and his 1999 State of the State address (February, 1999), Governor Keating
set a goal of reducing the state's divorce rate by one third by the year 2010, and called for a summit of state leaders to work
with his Cabinet Secretary to develop an action plan to meet that goal. Governor Keating has reiterated this goal in
subsequent State of the State addresses (2000 & 2001). While other governors have called summits to address various family
issues, the Governor and First Lady's Conference on Marriage on March 20, 1999, was the first of its kind in the nation.
To reduce the divorce rate, Oklahomans have decided to examine the problem and address the causes of divorce, rather than
just reacting to the outcomes. Leaders from all sectors of society will contribute to the development and implementation of
public policy initiatives to promote and honor marriage in Oklahoma, acknowledging that marriage is a critical factor to the
file://D:\legacy\fmal OKLAHOMA MARRIAGE POLICY.htm 7/12/2007