Judging by the raw statistics, I’d say that formal lifetime marriage is a dying deal anyway. More than half end in divorce, and a good percentage of the remaining one are less than blissful, according to my personal observations.
It almost takes being a stuntman to want to get married...
I don’t buy that stat about 50% ending on divorce.
Don’t get me wrong. I believe that half of all marriages don’t make it, but the implication is that half of all *first* marriages are doomed.
My own mother had three husbands. So that’s three first-time marriages by other people that make it so the statistic balances out. (Two of her ex-husbands each had three failed marriages, as well.)
My MIL and FIL are both on their second marriages. So they keep the numbers level.
My neighbor’s on hubby #5. So there’s 5 first-time marriages who “death til they part”.
There are many who’s first marriages fail and who never try again. That means that for every one of them, there’s a marriage that goes the distance.
Many, MANY people don’t get it right the first time, but do the second. (Older, wiser, more experienced, make a better choice for a mate, etc) They, too, keep the numbers at the 50% mark and end up very happy.
The odds of a first marriage making it is much better than implied by the statistic.