Our Cambridge Paper 'Engaging with cinema' argued that 'At their best, films are works of art that provoke ethical reflection and provide a vital point of contact between believers and unbelievers.' So, how could I turn down an invitation to take part in an online radio discussion about the latest vampire love triangle movie based on Stephenie Meyer's novel, 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'?(!)

In the film, the characters Bella and Edward postpone sex until after marriage. Why, I was asked, is this such an important message in today's society? Well, society bombards us daily with messages that we can 'have now' without considering the longer term cost - in every area of our lives: from money to the environment and sex. In truth, our sexual choices now affect our chances of settling down later. So, at a time when purportedly informative programmes such as Channel 4's 'The Sex Education Show' are encouraging teenagers to question their sexuality and to believe they can experiment without consequences for themselves or others, all the evidence indicates that the benefits of waiting until after marriage are many:

• Marriage makes people richer and financially more secure: married adults have made greater economic gains over the past four decades than unmarried adults
• Marriage makes people live much longer: the death rate for people who are unmarried is significantly higher than it is for those who are married and living with their spouses
• Marriage makes people healthier and happier: married people are far less likely to suffer psychological illness

Obviously, not all marriages are equally good and, unsurprisingly, marriage quality and prior beliefs about marriage can increase the size of the gains. However, in contrast, people who cohabit before marriage are at 60 per cent greater risk of divorce and just half of non-married couples are still together by the time their first child reaches the age of five (compared with about 19 out of 20 married couples). This has a serious impact on both the individuals concerned and those around them. For instance, people who are divorced are consistently more likely to suffer from a range of diseases and conditions which place a burden on the NHS, and children of divorced parents are at 50 per cent more likely to be admitted to hospital or to suffer accidental injury than children whose parents are not divorced.†

So, anyone who hopes for the fairytale ending--to live happily ever after--would be well advised to follow Bella and Edward's example and postpone sex until after marriage.

Is this a negative message? No, most definitely not. It is a very positive message, and certainly different from the 'scare tactics' that simply warn of the risk of unwanted pregnancy and contracting sexually transmitted infections. Encouraging people that they should wait until marriage before becoming sexually active is no different than encouraging people not to take up smoking: they will live longer, healthier and happier lives and have more money to spend on other things in life!

† Counting the Cost of Family Failure, 2010, Relationships Foundation

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