I just read this great article in Newsweek by two women around my age. It sums up perfectly my feelings on marriage and explains many of the reasons why I feel it.
"Once upon a time, marriage made sense. It was how women ensured their financial security, got the fathers of their children to stick around, and gained access to a host of legal rights. But 40 years after the feminist movement established our rights in the workplace, a generation after the divorce rate peaked, and a decade after Sex and the City made singledom chic, marriage is—from a legal and practical standpoint, anyway—no longer necessary.
We are also the so-called entitled generation, brought up with lofty expectations of an egalitarian adulthood; told by helicopter parents and the media, from the moment we exited the womb, that we could be “whatever we wanted”—with infinite opportunities to accomplish those dreams. So you can imagine how, 25 years down the line, committing to another person—for life—would be nerve-racking. (How do you know you’ve found “the one” if you haven’t vetted all the options?)"
If you don't have time to read the entire thought-proking article, here are some interesting facts:
- The percentage of married Americans has dropped each decade since the 1950s,
- The number of unmarried-but-cohabiting partners has risen 1,000 percent over the last 40 years.
- At 28 for men and 26 for women, the median age at which Americans are marrying is at its highest point ever.
- Men’s contributions to housework and child rearing may have doubled since the 1960s, yet even among dual-earning couples, women still do about two thirds of the housework.
- Research shows that the more education and financial independence a woman has—in other words, the more success she has outside the home—the more likely she is to stay married.
