Is Getting Married Still A Thing?

Love can be a beautiful thing. When two people come together and passionately show feelings to each other is very essential. When you love something or someone, you devote a lot of time to getting to know your partner, coping to their needs and making sure they are happy. After people build these unbreakable love bonds, they want to take it to the next level. This would refer to marriage. Looking forward to living with one individual for the rest of your life is what some couples look forward to. But here’s the catch…

As of 2019, marriage numbers have dropped slightly. According to source, it states “In 1962, half of 21-year-olds and 90% of 30-year-olds had been married at least once. In 2019, only 8.0% of 21-year-olds and 51.2% of 30-year-olds had been married”. As technology has been advancing, so has dating. Most young people are influenced by a lot of music artists and celebrities that downgrade getting married. They are portraying getting married as a way of being “trapped”. On the other hand, since there has been a huge spike in online dating websites and apps, building solid relationships are also going down. Too many “one night stands” from dating apps are replacing movie and dinner dates to really getting to know somebody. To add to that, generations valued love more than we do now. Which made it have a higher success rate of people getting married. According to source, it states that “when comparing 2008 to 2018, years in which the Current Population Survey asked a direct cohabitation question, cohabitation only increased for 25- to 34-year-olds and slightly decreased for 18- to 24-year-olds.
So, although cohabitation has increased for young adults over the last 50 years, it is important to note the limitations in measurement and that certain periods of time did not produce increases in unmarried young adults living together”. In other words, I believe as time goes on even more, those numbers will continue to decrease because of all the dating platforms people are creating nowadays that are resulting in the “hookup culture”.

When elevating to the next level to marriage, you want to make sure you and our partner are stable. Even though you might have unconditional love for each other and would do anything to keep your love strong, you have to factor your cash flow. This could also be the deal breaker for people who are getting married. Some people tend to find or try to find a partner who has a good career and has future goals of positivity or future goals that include the partner. According to sources, it claims that “Adults who marry today tend to have a more favorable economic situation relative to other groups. For example, 40 percent of married young adults ages 18-34 earned $40,000 or more, compared to just 20 percent of unmarried young adults. Among young adults ages 25-34  the age range at which it is more common to get married and earn at least $40,000 a year 43 percent of married individuals are at this earnings level compared to 34 percent of unmarried individuals”. This makes a lot of sense. You don’t want your partner to be bum. At least you would hope that he/she is making around the same amount or more. This will make the marriage stronger financial wise. This all affects things like anniversaries, vacations, holidays and birthday gifts. It is all about love, so it is nice showing our partner different ways of how much they love you through things like that.

As you know, being married comes with years of knowing someone who you grew a deep love for. But nowadays, people are having a hard time having a consistent partner. With social media brainwashing people to think other individuals should have little to no flaws when wanting to date also helps kill the marriage culture. This causes people to have shorter attention spans and not pay attention to their potential partner’s favorite things like color, food, movie, etc. This could stir your partner in the wrong direction. According to sources, it says that “Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to not have a steady partner: 51 percent vs. 32 percent, respectively. The share of non-partnered Americans is also higher among those unemployed 54 percent, up from 44 percent in 2016. Just under a third 32 percent of employed adults don’t have a steady partner”. This explains how another way income can affect marriage. I interviewed two young people who I know got married at 24. Their names are Sarah and Mike. They dated for 10 years and decided to take it to the next level. I asked them what helped both of you stay together? They responded with “always try to pick up on new things that are going on with your partner”. If he/she gets their hair done, or if he/she has a nice outfit that you don’t see often you should always show your love through compliments. When they got married, they both had full-time jobs and had their own home. They split bills and are expecting a baby in the next couple months.