Marriage

vs

Single Parent Families

Recently we have all heard many discussions concerning what is incorrect in our Society.  Too many young people are starting families without the benefit of Marriage and attempting to raise children outside of the norm of two parents to raise these Wonderful Gifts from God.



The above picture is of the Bibb County Court House.  This is where a couple who desires to be married must obtain their license. 

I have done some research and ascertained the following information which I will quote from the Bibb County Web Site:

"Fees: The fee for a marriage license is $56.00, which includes the application fee of $40.00 [O.C.G.A. §15-9-60(k)(14)], a fee of $15.00 paid to the State Children’s Trust Fund [O.C.G.A. §15-9-60.1], and a fee of $1.00 for recording the marriage with the Department of Human Resources, Vital Records Division [O.C.G.A. §31-10-21(f)]. In addition, there is a $10.00 charge for the certified copy of the marriage license, which is mailed to the applicants after recording, and a $10.00 fee for the certified copy of the license application for the Social Security Administration. The total for these services is $77.00 payable at the time the application is made."

Therefore, depending on the circumstances regarding the couple who desires to be married the fees can be reduced if they have received appropriate pre-marriage counselling.

I then checked with the Georgia Department of Human Services Web Site to ascertain if anyone requesting assistance from the Department of Family and Children's Services (DFCS) needed to pay a fee.  I could not see where any fees are required.  The picture above is the DFCS Headquarters for Bibb County, Georgia.  It is located at 456 Oglethorpe Street in Macon, Georgia.

Maybe we are doing this all wrong.  Instead of requiring the payment of a "fee" to be married; maybe we should ascess a fee for those desiring assistance for shelter and food for their children.  I know that some who read this post will consider this incorrect, but I would submit that charging a fee to get a marriage license is also incorrect. 

I believe that the purpose of our Government at any level is to serve the people.  Are we really serving the couples who desire to become married by charging them a "fee?"

I would submit that this situation should be carefully studied and consideration be given to eliminating the marriage license fee.  If, we as a Society support marriage and a two parent family to stablize the family unit we should certainly give my suggestion serious thought.

I do not feel that it is proper to charge citizens who desire to do what is considered correct by the majority of society while allowing the Government to render assistance to those, who in far too many cases, ignore the mores of our Society.

I certainly believe that it takes two parents to raise a child and I also realize that in some situations this is not possible; however we as a Society have ignored this mantra.  The current crime crisis our Society faces is in many regards the result of our not doing what is considered right.  This is not a Macon, Georgia problem, nor a Bibb County, Georgia problem.  I suspect that this is a problem that is U.S.A. wide in scope.