Fewer and fewer men are looking to get married these days the Pew Research Institute recently found that the number of men ages 18 to 34 saying that having a successful marriage is one of the most important things dropped from 35 percent to 29 percent since 1997 the number of young adult women saying the same thing has risen from 28 percent to 37 percent in the same time this statistic made me wonder why so many guys out there are saying they don't want to get married there seems to be a growing subculture of guys who say they'd rather avoid it. The biological desire of both men and women to see their children survives it was the evolutionary dominant strategy in the last few thousand years marriage became less about a survival strategy and more about a way to control the power it became a tool to strengthen alliances maintain wealth solidify social class control female sexuality and fulfill religious duties arranged marriages were the norm around much of the world up until the mid 20th century so now most of us watching this life in a society filled with the abundance we're at the top of the food chain we don't have to defend ourselves from saber-toothed Tigers anymore many of us are not strictly religious or rural farmers our parents aren't arranging us and we don't need to form an alliance between kingdoms like in Game of Thrones.
So you may be wondering why are we still getting married we no longer need the institution of marriage to ensure the survival of our species live doesn't have to be a conveyor belt of common events where you graduate at this age start a family at that age and retire at this age these are ideas that many Millennials are discovering and is a primary cause of the steady decline in new marriages each year about 5%. It's beginning to be seen by many as an outdated restricting institution that simply not worth it people keep getting married at older ages in the 1960s over half of Americans under 30 were married the average age of marriage for a woman was about 20 and the average age for men was 23 today only 20 percent of people under 30 are married, and the average age for women is 26 and a half and for men is nearly 29 so let's take a look at some of the pros and cons of modern-day marriage first the pros marriage is the ultimate showcase of commitment an unbreakable love bond through sickness and health, but there are numerous legal financial social and health advantages to getting hitched the legal benefits a married couple is seen as a single taxable unit in the eyes of the government in most case.
Who would raise your kids clean your house and cook your meals this may not be an ideal dynamic for everyone but men used to have much to gain from getting married now there are more women than men in the workforce and more women than men have college degrees much like the bonobos' many women today no longer need a man to provide for them and they're not interested in being a homemaker there seems to be a direct correlation between the liberation of women and the decline in men seeking marriage in areas where women are highly educated and career-oriented. The marriage rates are the lowest although marriage rates continue to decline both men and women agree that parenting is still a high priority 52% of Millennials say that being a good parent is one of the most important things in life while only 29% assign high importance to get married this shows that Millennials don't think that they necessarily need to be married to have a family many are choosing to avoid the headache and create love bond and raise kids on their terms there are plenty of legal alternatives to getting married like a domestic partnership civil union or creating a will the truth is you can have just about all the benefits of marriage without actually getting married you can have a lifelong partner who supports your goals.