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He was divorced, with a son. So was she. And so when Cathy and Denny Dobbs merged their families nearly 20 years ago, it was much like the popular 1970s sitcom "The Brady Bunch." They both worked on the job and at home. They spent time with their children and with each other. They still do. The same can be said for Leslie and Anthony Royal's family. And Nancy and Richard Schulz. But is "the family that stays together" the image most of us conjure up when we think of the modern family?

U.S. courts' rulings on marriage have evolved in response to changing norms. Stephanie Coontz is a teacher of history and family studies at Evergreen State College, Olympia, Wash. With several state supreme courts due to rule on suits from same-sex couples demanding access to marriage, conservatives must be delighted to have a Justice Samuel Alito. During his confirmation hearings, Alito argued that judges should interpret the Constitution based "on the meaning that someone would have taken…

Pundits and politicians love to pontificate about strengthening traditional marriage. But as someone who has studied marriage forms and family life for more than three decades, I wonder how many of them have the faintest idea of what they're talking about. I suppose they mean the "traditional" marriage of one man and one woman.

Usually Valentine's Day comes and goes with just a day or two of news media attention to courtship and marriage. Not this February. New Yorkers are debating whether to join the other 49 states in legalizing no-fault divorce - even while conservative pro-marriage groups elsewhere plead with their legislatures to repeal it. Meanwhile, Congress has just approved financing for new marriage education programs. And state courts in New Jersey and Washington are expected to rule soon on same-sex…

Many people believe that the instability of modern marriage exists because husbands and wives don't take their relationships as seriously as people did in the past.

Stephanie Coontz teaches history at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and is the author of "Marriage, A History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage." September 7, 2005 At first glance, labor this year seems to have much to celebrate.