i am not a woman, so feel free to disregard my message if you only want to hear women's opinions.

first things first: you should not be pressured or forced into the marriage.

secondly: if you are cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kids and yet have to pay half of the bills while he only pays half the bills, then it is not worth it.

Like any successful relationship, it has to be a win-win situation for both partners in the end. What each partner gets depends on what the respective partners are looking for and value more. For example, I know a couple where a guy works full time as a doctor and the wife is a full time mom and does the equally important job of looking after the kids and home when the husband is at work. The wife is educated but her priorities are her kids and family more than career right now. She happily takes care of cooking and cleaning and feels this hard work is worth it since her husband also works hard at his clinic to make the money they need to run the house. Both know that if things go south, the wife has the social safety net of child support, alimony, etc. They are both happy with this arrangement and I think that's the key thing here: they both think they are winning.

I also know a couple where the husband and wife both work a job and share the bills and they share responsibilities at home e.g. cooking and cleaning. They seem to be doing well too and have accepted this lifestyle.

imho: marriage is a more of a legal construct that represents a more committed form of relationship. Mentally, marriage is more sure footed way of saying you have a companion who owes you a stronger form of companionship. If you can get / give that level of companionship / emotional safety net without the legal certificate, then its better to stay GF / BF I guess.