All of us face a clear challenge: the divorce rate hovers near 50%, and more of our children (40% in 2008) are being born to unmarried mothers as the marriage rate continues to decline. While sitcoms and water cooler teasing may have you thinking differently, study after study shows that married couples are happier, healthier, wealthier, and enjoy better sex lives than singles or cohabiting couples. Their children do better in school, have better emotional and physical health, get pregnant as teens less often, and are less likely to experiment with alcohol and drugs. In contrast, children from divorced or unmarried parents are twelve times more likely to be incarcerated, and face increased risks of abuse and molestation.

The good news is: you can take control of your relationship quality! As research shows, learning communication and conflict resolution skills can yield dramatic improvement in your relationships, both on the job and at home. And if you'll forgive a little starry-eyed idealism, world peace really does begin with learning how to have peaceful relationships with those closest to you.