In this testimony before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families, Dr. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, the Co-Director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, discusses the benefits of marriage. She begins by exploring the reasons for marriage and then describes the economic, educational, and emotional benefits of marriage for children. Research findings are cited that indicate children reared in married parent families are less vulnerable to serious emotional illness, depression, and suicide, are less likely to be poor, and are more likely to stay in school. Benefits of marriage for adults are then discussed, as well as the specific benefits for men and women. The testimony also addresses the intergenerational benefits of marriage and key benefits of marriage for society. It closes by calling for the public and private sector to explore ways to reduce the barriers to healthy marriage and to make it possible for more parents to form strong and lasting marital unions. 15 references.