They’re talking, I think, about the relaxation of the emotional distress of being single. Evidently, for guys, shacking up still feeds single. What’s changed over the years is that women, this drop in stress used to require marriage, but now shacking up does it just as well.
Somehow, I just don’t believe that it “helps” the women; now they probably believe that this will lead to a ring and a wedding. That’s not usually the case;from what I’ve seen/heard about.