The Definition of Marital Status

In simpler times, applications for membership and/or employment would list these choices:

• Married
• Single
• Widowed
• Divorced

In those days once a person married they would never be considered single again.

In the 1960′s a very large percentage of people between the ages of 25 to 30 were married but the percentage was declining each year and would sometime drop below 50% which prompted Rabbi Wine to state that at that time we could ask the question “How come your still Married?”

In the present, applications for employment are forbidden to ask for marital status but if they were allowed things are much more complicated and the above choices would have to be changed to :

• Married,happily
• Married, legally separated
• Married, but looking around
• Married to someone of the same sex
• Single, never been married
• Single, again and wanting to get married
• In a relationship
• Single and not interested in getting involved

Believe it or not, many people in a relationship or not interested in finding a partner do not consider themselves single.

The definition of relationship is not defined and is the topic of another page on this blog.

In the long time passed, the only place people could get married was in the Church and there was no such thing as a divorce.
There was the possibility that the church could annul the marriage. When Henry IIX could not obtain an annulment of his marriage he took steps to separate from the Church. The Church considered all marriages not performed in the Church as civil unions.

In order to use the civil legal system, people were required to obtain a government license to be considered legally married.

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Submitted by John Oakland -
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