When I was young, everything in society seemed to aim one toward marriage. It was the expectation. It was the inevitability. You would — and should — meet someone, get married and start a family. It was the way it had always been, and always would be.
But even then, the share of people who were married was already falling. The year I was born, 1970, the percentage of Americans between the ages of 25 and 50 who had never married was just 9 percent. By the time I became an adult, that number was approaching 20 percent.
Some people were delaying marriage. But others were forgoing it altogether.
This trend has only continued, and we are now nearing a milestone. This month, the Pew Research Center published an analysis of census data showing that in 2019 the share of American adults who were neither married nor living with a partner had risen to 38 percent, and while that group “includes some adults who were […]
Marriage is huge commitment. Unraveling a failed marriage is painful, expensive and can be devastating to your entire sphere of family and friends. I can understand why many who grew up around this pain and dysfunction want no part of it! It is not right for everyone. The flip side is that a great marriage to the well vetted “right” partner produces a bounty of rewards that you would otherwise never experience. I still believe that deep down our soul wants a committed partner to share life with! So I hope eventually that the pendulum swings the other way.
Well said Tom N!
Why on earth would a man get married these days. At least 70% of divorces are initiated by the woman. The divorce laws and child custody laws openly discriminate against men.
Why would any man sign a contract where the other party is financially incentivised to break it? Ridiculous and more men are opting off of this merry-go-round.