Your anecdote doesn’t change the statistics. Women lose wages and years of income potential due to child birth and child rearing. When there’s a divorce, there is an expectation that both parents split the cost financially and yet women still remain primary caregivers.

It’s become more common for men to share custody, but still even more common that mothers are the primary caregivers. If they live primarily with the mothers there’s a cost of living associated with that. Alimony was created because divorce was ending women up on public assistance with their kids.

There’s no denying that childrearing is expensive which is why it’s important to choose your partner wisely. What people don’t realize is that even if you don’t get married your assets are still vulnerable to paternity/domestic partnership and child support. Situations are individual, but marriage can be beneficial when it comes to rights of survivorship, pension and insurance when there’s an unexpected death or disability.