The '50s

Old-Fashioned Love:
"I Love Lucy"s'
two comedic couples.

Back in the love-honor-and-obey 50s, spouses largely shared the same view of marriage. Most wives stayed at home; their husbands were the undisputed breadwinners -- and the fact that they controlled the purse-strings meant that they wielded most of the decision-making power in the family, too.

The '70s

"The Brady Bunch":
The classic blended family.

In the 70s, traditional wedding ceremonies gave way to barefoot brides on windswept beaches, and the emergence of the sexual revolution proclaimed a different cultural mantra. So-called "open marriage" with its myriad sexual partners was in, staying in a relationship that needed work was decidedly not.

The '80s and '90s

Modern Marriage:
Who can't relate to Ray
and Debra from
"Everybody Loves Raymond?"

Through these two decades, couples continued to deal with issues long in the shadows -- alcoholism and physical and sexual abuse -- as well as those increasingly in the headlines -- the growing use of psychotropic medications and new forms of counseling, such as group and solution-oriented, brief therapy.

Facts and Stats of the Last 50 Years

• In the early 1950s the chance that a wedding would lead to divorce was less than 20 percent. Now it is around 50 percent!

• As late as 1970, 80 percent of married women in the United States agreed that "it is much better for everyone involved if the man is the achiever outside the home and the woman takes care of the home and family." By 1991, a mere 27 percent agreed! A similar shift occurred in men's attitudes.

• The proportion of households headed by married couples fell from 77 percent in 1950 to 55 percent in 1993.