Actually, the increase in the pre-marital sex rate closely parallels with the acceptance of and increased usage of the Pill. Contraception (especially the non-barrier kind) severed the link between procreation and sex in a lot of people's minds.
I, like you, am somewhat put off by all of the accounts of horrible wives that are frequently made by Freeper males. (And they tend to confirm the stereotype of conservatives as angry, white males. )Is it possible that American women are the pampered, demanding, inconsiderate witches as they are so often described? Perhaps, but my guess is that there are a lot of unrealistic expectations about marriage out there, also.
BINGO!! Even children are no longer taught about personal responsibility, hence, have NO conception of how to handle hard-times, adversity nor conflict and how to accept responsibilty.
What would you accept as undeniable proof of the first possibility. When you can realisticly answer that question...I promise I can meet that standard.