Abstract The marriage movement arose in the late 1990s in the United States out of growing concern over trends in marriage and its steady decline, rising rates of divorce, cohabitation and nonmarital childbearing, and debates over same‐sex marriage. Its activities and organizations include faith‐based, proheterosexual and antigay marriage campaigns; covenant marriage and divorce law reform efforts; marriage and relationship education and school‐based classes; and government‐funded federal, state, and community marriage initiatives.