Why are men choosing not to marry anymore?

[SoCalDem]

11. Marriage, in general, has changed

Before the 60's/70's, women HAD to marry to have a family (or risk being looked down on by society for having "illegitimate" children)

Men were alone at the "top of the hill" (jobwise), and were still very under-the-influence of prior generations (sole provider/head-of-household/king-of-castle)

Integration/women's movement put younger men entering the jobforce in the workplace (on a more or less equal-footing) with females of equal abilities..and with people of other races. There was dating, to be sure, but for the unmarried ones, it was an opportunity to see women as more than potential wives.

These days, dating lasts a VERY long time. In past generations, girls often were not even allowed to date until they were 16, and then married at 18, so there was only a few years' window...and since divorce was not common, their life was planned out.

Modern girls (and boys) start "dating" now at a very young age, and since each sex can support themselves, and even have kids without being married (societally), many find themselves in the dating-pool for decades.

It's easy to see how , at some point, they could just sour on the whole "forever" aspect of marriage.

Many also come from unhappy/broken homes (after the 80's divorce lost its stigma), and may not want to risk repeating the experience.

Also, since college debt (and credit card debt) is rampant, a lot of couples who might really want to marry, hold off because they are too broke to start a fresh marriage with staggering debt.

Our 3 boys all waited for marriage until after they were 30, because they wanted financial security before they took on marriage.