The Rambam writes at the beginning of Hilchos Ishus that the mitzva is to marry a woman with כתובה and קידושין. Everybody asks - We pasken that כתובה isn't מדאורייתא so how can the Rambam say that the mitzva according to the Torah is to marry a woman with a כתובה?
Rav Soloveitchik answered that the Rambam is referring to the obligations and responsibilities of marriage - שאר כסות ועונה [food, clothing and conjugal rights]. Even though the man could theoretically make a תנאי absolving him from these obligations and still get married, he is only מקיים the mitzva if he accepts upon himself these responsibilities.
Marriage is responsibility. Not just fun and games. When people get married the intoxicating feeling of being in love deludes them into thinking that this is what life really is going to be like - but they are QUICKLY ushered into a completely different reality. Love, romance, excitement - all great. But the basis is a sense of obligation and responsibility.
In the United States today, there are an astounding nearly 13.6 million single parents raising over 21 million children [count to 21 million and see how long that takes you. Each number is an actual human being]. Single fathers are far less common than single mothers, constituting 16% of single-parent families.
All too often men shirk their responsibilities. They find someone more attractive, have an affair and leave their wife and children. If society would educate it members about the gravity of the responsibility of marriage and that it is not just something that can be tossed away like last week's newspaper - we would be much better off. The data shows that children from single parent families are much more likely to become criminals, to be on welfare etc. etc.
Big topic - we will conclude here in brief.
