Covenant marriages -- which entail stronger vows and greater difficulty in obtaining a divorce later -- are finding few takers in today's no-fault divorce society, observers report.

• Louisiana and Arizona have been the only two states to enact covenant-marriage laws.

• Seventeen other states have considered similar legislation this year.

• So far, only 1 percent of altar-bound couples have opted for covenant marriages in Louisiana.

• By contrast, no-fault divorce caught on faster after it was introduced in California in 1969.

A Louisiana State University study revealed that husbands in covenant marriages were more educated than most men who chose standard marriage contracts. Also, churches in more affluent parishes are the ones pushing covenant marriages the hardest, observers report.