Marriage: A Road Less Traveled?
Has marriage really become the road less travelled?
Robert Frost’s timeless poem is actually titled “The Road Not Taken”, and it reflects a stunning statistic: marriage is on a decline and single living is on the rise across the globe.
A 2019 StatsCan study reported that marriage rates have declined, while living common law and union dissolution through separation and divorce, have become increasingly common.
“I’d had the misfortune of witnessing a lot of passionless marriages, and listening to the men in those marriages say things to me like “hold on to your freedom” and “sow your oats, kid” and “ah, to be your age again.” They reeked of despair, so the message was absorbed deeply into my adolescent psyche – marriage is death.”
— Mark Rickerby, Chicken Soup for the Soul
A 2018 Angus Reid Institute poll found 53% of Canadian adults felt marriage wasn’t necessary, while 47% thought it was important for couples in long-term relationships to have legal marriages.
https://angusreid.org/marriage-trends-canada/
Attitudes toward marriage in Canada may be changing, but most Canadians still report having walked down the aisle at least once in their lives. Some six-in-ten (60%) have been married at some point, and 43% are married currently. While 40% of adults in Canada have never been married, most of them are not opposed to the idea of marrying someday. The majority of never-married Canadians under the age of 35 say they would like to get married one day. While they have many different reasons for currently remaining single, the most common one is that they just haven’t found the right person yet.
And if you’re waiting for your family to find you the right partner, you may have better luck.
While arranged marriages might be a foreign concept in Canada and much of the Western world, they are a fairly common practice in other parts of the world. In fact, 55% of marriages that happen across the globe today are arranged marriages.
Some 26% of unmarried Canadians (15% of adults overall) are currently in common-law relationships. According to the 2017 General Social Survey (GSS), 39% of married 25 to 64 year olds lived common law with their current spouse before tying the knot.
Most Canadians would be more likely to get married if the price of a wedding wasn’t so high. Fully six-in-ten (61%) agree with the statement, “More people would get married if weddings weren’t so expensive and stressful,” and agreement rises to three-quarters (74%) among those in the prime age group for first marriages (18-34).
Future of Marriage: What Lies Ahead?
A lot of people, especially young adults, are less likely to see marriage as an integral component for a happy and fulfilling life. The increase in women’s economic and social independence and society’s acceptance for nontraditional lifestyles have caused marriage to rank behind advanced degrees or fulfilling jobs. At the same time, countless couples are remaining single or co-habitating due to high debt, unstable jobs, among other financial challenges, making marriage increasingly more for the rich and educated.
Meanwhile, online dating sites and mobile apps such as Tinder and Grinder have become popular in recent years, which has created a trend of marriages made in cyberspace. “Marriage is now an option, not a necessity, from an economic standpoint,” says Isabel Sawhill, a senior fellow at Brooking Institution, a think tank in Washington. But no matter how one argues against marriage, it can’t be denied that it’s an integral part of forming a family, which is essential for the survival of the human race.
Like most human traditions, marriage is here to stay.
— Arthur Zuckerman, May 31, 2020
So, when the time comes to decide whether to walk down the aisle or to simply wonder what that walk would be like, don’t be a statistic.
While taking those steps along this road less travelled may no longer be as popular as it was in the past, when faced with the choice, start the journey. I promise you, it will make all the difference.
“Marriage: the best destination is the journey itself.”