Test Your Marital IQ

1. Which was the LEAST traditional form of marriage in history?
A. Monogamy
B. Polygyny 
C. Serial marriage
D. Male breadwinner marriage
E. First cousin marriage

2. What was the most important function of marriage from Paleolithic times to the Early Modern Era?
A. To ensure that every child had a mother and father
B. To protect and provide for women and children
C. To ensure male dominance over women and children
D. All of the above
E. None of the above

3. Which of the following changes were NOT the long-term result of the adoption of no-fault divorce?
A. A rise in women’s poverty rates relative to men’s
B. A decline in wives’ suicide rates
C. A drop in the murder of husbands by wives
D. A decline in domestic violence

4. In 19th century America, at which age could an unmarried girl or woman legally consent to sex in the majority of states?
A. 7
B. 11
C 18
D. 21
E. Never

5. What is the single best predictor that a woman will be a stay-at-home mom?

Answers will be provided by historian Stephanie Coontz on Family Matters* Tuesday, June 23, on VoiceAmerica live Internet talk radio. Later the discussion will be available as a podcast.

*Dr. Colin’s goal on Family Matters is to share good ideas about helping all kinds of families handle the challenges and problems that are common in today’s world. She and her guests seek to help people heal, grow, and thrive in a culture in which marriage, parenting, and other family relationships are under great stress. The program features experts on a wide variety of family matters. Topics include building and maintaining healthy relationships, single parents, addiction, ending abusive relationships, family mediation, parenting, divorcing with minimal damage, LGBT families, forming and maintaining stepfamilies, strengthening marriages, making elder care decisions, coping with chronic illnesses, and other family matters. Tune in every Tuesday at 3 PM Pacific Time (6 PM Eastern Time) on the VoiceAmerica Variety Channel.