Is being unmarried and childless becoming "the norm" in society?

[woota]

having kids at this point is almost child abuse

lol'd

 

[mouncey2franklin]

I don't think humans are evolving away from wanting companionship and family but marriage can be a pretty s**t deal.

For men, yes it can, in countries like Australia.

Look up the stats on who initiates divorce in Australia.

You might imagine it is a 50/50 split between men and women. It is not even close.

'Til death do us part' has been a joke ever since 'no fault divorce' (if not sooner).

How people can sit there at weddings and not laugh at the 'til death do us part' thing is beyond me.

 

[WCErevival]

There are so many divorces because people marry the first person they meet even though they arent compatible.

 

[Taylor]

There are so many divorces because people marry the first person they meet even though they arent compatible.

The odds for a subsequent divorce once you'd had a divorce skyrocket, so I think there is something there about the people getting involved in them.

Some people will look for greener grass when the going gets tough.

 

[woota]

For men, yes it can, in countries like Australia.

Look up the stats on who initiates divorce in Australia.

You might imagine it is a 50/50 split between men and women. It is not even close.

'Til death do us part' has been a joke ever since 'no fault divorce' (if not sooner).

How people can sit there at weddings and not laugh at the 'til death do us part' thing is beyond me.

Seriously? I thought it was common knowledge that women initiate the overwhelming majority of divorces. Maybe it's not common knowledge, I don't know. I always assumed it was because I've known that since I was about 18.

 

[Cmarsh]

Heard the other day that within the next 10 years there will be more couples without children than with children in Aus.

 

[Mr Blicavs]

Ill just leave this here

 

[Mr Blicavs]

That's part of what is driving it. Women's nature is to seek men of equal or higher economic status to themselves (when looking for a long term partner). Back in the day when women weren't in the paid workforce, all of a woman's potential suitors were of higher economic status than her, provided they had a job. Women had essentially no economic status at all, so her dating options were limitless. In this day and age, there are more female college/uni graduates than male, women are being promoted faster than men, government and corporations have female quotas, so women are earning as much or more money than men. As a woman's education and income level gets higher, her pool of potential mates gets smaller (because there are more men beneath her financially). That makes finding a partner a more tricky prospect for women than it was in the past.

Its called Hypergamy and its a very real thing.
Women are responsible for initiating around 70% of divorces in Australia these days.
Married 18 years, 2 teenage boys, but as I say to young men today when they talk about marriage... why would ya?

 

[perthblue]

unfortunately yes. sad result of a society moving towards secularism and away from traditional family values.

 

[Messenger]

unfortunately yes. sad result of a society moving towards secularism and away from traditional family values.

We’ve always had families that can’t make a go of it, couple that can’t get along and treat each other poorly.

They just don’t use religion as window dressing anymore.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

In 1999 if you were over 40 you were born in the '50s or earlier and there was a reasonable chance you had no idea how to use the internet. You might've believed your family and society calling you a weirdo "missing out" because no spouse/kids.

Today if you're over 40 you've been using the internet for decades and it's full of millions of people like you without a spouse/kids. Mum and dad can be ignored with their nagging about grandchildren.

 

[tangolikelama]

So basically you're just after a sperm receptacle?

Not at all. Personally I think it's selfish to have children and I don't think you need to be married to signify love with another person.

 

[M Malice]

Not at all. Personally I think it's selfish to have children and I don't think you need to be married to signify love with another person.

That's great..... my post was in jest though, maybe a poor attempt at humor I admit.

 

[Stratton_Gun]

When we are younger we are conditioned to think that there is some soul mate out there for everyone and you will live happily ever after. You get older and realise its not true. Marriage and relationships aren't for everyone

 

[ioppolo]

Marriage/lifetime partner is about compatibility and companionship as much as sexual attraction most of the time. Getting married young when your hormones are in overdrive is dangerous. It could turn out you don't actually get along with this person all that much after the sex and first few years. My partner is basically my best friend which to me is as important as sexual attraction.

 

[burge13]

Heard the other day that within the next 10 years there will be more couples without children than with children in Aus.

Have you seen the state of people these days? This is a good thing...

 

[woota]

The birthrate is going down but we don't hear about it because the population is kept stable through immigration. Alas, in 50 years time people with white skin will probably be a minority in aus.

 

[Poetic Justice]

Perhaps nothing has changed over time other than modern peoples ability to decide "Nup, I'm over this so I'm going to end it" rather than generations gone by that said "No, I need to stick this out, happy or not."

 

[Jobe Watson]

Probably a good thing. Marriage is a pointless tradition and having kids is financially irresponsible for most people.

 

[Scotland]

Society used to shun people more for not treading the beaten path. Not married, kids out of wedlock, any kind of non traditional family arrangement etc. used to be big deals. If you got yourself knocked up in the 1950s that was a huge deal. In 2019 a single mum with a dorda is par for the course. A mum dad 2.3 kids househould who all eat dinner together around the table is almost a shock to a lot of people.

Completely anecdotally I would say that hardly anyone gets married these days because the girl got pregnant and it's the right thing to do and then stats together for the kids. If people are happy together they stay together, if they aren't they don't. Which isn't a bad thing, though people do give up pretty easily these days and act very selfishly when it comes to partners and children.

 

[craigos]

You guys seen those machines in China that suck that human nectar straight out of ya? Robots are coming for us and damned if their game plan isn't looking solid.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

Marriage is a very bad financial deal for men. So given how much it can ruin your life financially a lot more young men aren't looking to get married.

They'll get you regardless of marriage or not

 

[Scotland]

For men, yes it can, in countries like Australia.

Look up the stats on who initiates divorce in Australia.

You might imagine it is a 50/50 split between men and women. It is not even close.

'Til death do us part' has been a joke ever since 'no fault divorce' (if not sooner).

How people can sit there at weddings and not laugh at the 'til death do us part' thing is beyond me.

I would not imagine that at all. Women have an inherent advantage in the whole thing which is no doubt a contributing factor in more women wanting to get married than men. That's completely anecdotal, but I know guys who are under pressure from their partners to get married and I know guys who have got married because their now wife wanted to. I don't know any girls who got married because the guy wanted it, and I don't know any guys pushing their girlfriends to get married.

As a woman, you know going in that if it doesn't work out then the majority of the time you walk out no worse off then how you went in and often you leave better off. If there's kids you'll probably get primary custody. If there's a house you're a good chance to get that. If you are a self made career woman then you'll probably just leave with what you had and life goes on. Verrry different prospect as a man. Jeff Bezos' ex wife just walked away with $35b. Hopefully that's enough to cover school fees and lunches...

As I said earlier I hope that marriage equality leads to some form of divorce equality. All the family courts need to do is let go of the ridiculous status quo that anyone 'deserves' anything predating the marriage.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

people with white skin will probably be a minority in aus

 

[Scotland]

Australia with a non-white majority would be a *en nightmare.

There are 25m people here now, and what 65, 70% of them are white? Unless there is some reverse-Hitler eugenics program in the works (I guess if you did kill all the white men that would achieve that goal...) that population should sustain for a while. So in order to catch up and make things 50/50 we need at least another 10m people (all of whom need to be non-white) for the stats to balance out. * that. Unless they are Danish supermodels 10m more of anyone is a terrible idea.