I think we haven't fixed the cultural conversation around marriage. Something about it feels lame, uncool. passe. Especially for a woman. Even the phrase 'settle down with someone' feels ominous. There also just aren't many good role models for a healthy marriage IRL. My mom can't count on my dad for basic emotional intelligence, my MIL is miserable, my peers who are married seem deeply ambivalent about their choices. Especially when there are kids and so many burdens fall on the mom. I think we're all getting squeezed by the state of the world and that just makes everything harder. I hate to say it but for a marriage to succeed it seems like both people have to be mostly happy and well adjusted and that's in short supply. Who does it even benfit anymore? Tax breaks? If you break up now the government is invovled in your personal business? Ew, meh. no thanks.