Millennials’ 6 Reasons for Delaying Marriage Prove We Are Killing It
Fewer and fewer millennials are getting married these days, according to The Washington Post. While this may not come as a surprise, most of the reasons contributing to this new data are pretty cool. Here are the 6 main (pretty awesome) reasons millennials are delaying marriage.
1. Women are less financially dependent on men.
“One [reason to get married] is to have two people in the household to share the housework and finances,” Andrew Zuppann, assistant professor of economics at the University of Houston told the Post. “A big change between 2016 and 1950 is that a lot less people rely on this and have opportunities to afford to be on their own.”
2. Birth control
“Contraceptives and abortion are letting women put off pregnancy and marriage longer,” Zuppann said, which makes sense.
3. Dating Apps
The number of people using dating apps like Tinder and OKCupid have tripled since 2013, rising up to 15% of Americans, according to The Pew Research Center. And with more dating apps come more casual relationships. Surprisingly, this has also apparently contributed to a decline in sexual relationships in general, but that’s another story.
4. Other Kinds of Technology
Thanks to changes in technology, the burden of chores and household chores has been lifted off the backs of many prospective marriage partners. Washing machines — or even apps like Washio — make life much more convenient in general, allows for those who’d previously been expected to stick around the house, a.k.a women, to focus on real jobs instead.
5. Abortion
While still a controversial topic, abortion is generally more available and less stigmatized than it was in years before our generation (for now, at least.) The option of choosing has made it possible for a lot of women (and couples) to bypass situations they might otherwise feel pressured into. As in marriage.
6. People Are Less Interested in Marriage, And More Interested in Happiness
“Being indefinitely single means you’re choosing happiness,” one 28-year-old, Holly Dembinski told The Post. “I think realizing that you don’t need to have an endgame, that there isn’t a bottom line, per se, is important. There isn’t a goal to pertain to be happy, it’s finding happiness in the present.”
