[SamAdams76]

I think the "not getting married in the first place" is the main reason for the decline. Since it has become socially acceptable to shack up, we now have a good number of people out there bouncing from live-in relationship to live-in relationship, without the attendant divorces and the nasty alimony and child custody battles that go with them.

Many people getting married typically have already co-habitated with each other for a period of time and have determined that they are a good fit for each other long-term.

[JRandomFreeper]

I know I'd rather live alone than get married again. That's why I wound up with a tiny little one-bedroom, one-closet shack. No room for a woman's stuff here. ;)

Potential #4 agrees. I'm better off single and celibate. And she is "She who must be obeyed" even without a ring.

/johnny

[newheart]

“””Many people getting married typically have already co-habitated with each other for a period of time and have determined that they are a good fit for each other long-term. “””

Seems logical, however the evidence suggests that couples who cohabit before marriage actually increase their chance of divorce later. Here’s an article from HuffPo (not a site I would place in the strongly pro-marriage camp).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-hughes/does-cohabitation-increas_b_808348.html

Surprise. Living together doesn’t seem to help.

[poobear]

Married 27 years here.

[tbw2]

The odds of two people who marry and have children breaking up before the kid is 15 is 25%.
If they are never married, the odds of a split before the kid is 15 rise to 75%.
Unmarried unions are less stable, even if they plan to be together.

[DoughtyOne]

Divorce rates are far higher for people who have lived together first.

If you live with someone for seven years, you are in many states considered to be common law “married”.

Child custody battles aren’t made less difficult by not marrying. They are made more difficult.

Imagine you have a child with a woman. Five years later she files for divorce. As a man, you have no rights whatsoever. The child you love is gone!

Is that easier?

[ansel12]

Shacking up means having a higher divorce rate.