
Most millennials are having children out of wedlock. Why? - jseliger
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/07/why-are-so-many-millennials-having-children-out-of-wedlock/491753/?single_page=true
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zaccus
Why not?

I'm not married to my son's mom yet. We just haven't gotten around to it
because:

we're not religious

marriage as an institution just doesn't mean much to us outside tax/other
legal benefits

proper weddings, then kind you can invite extended family to, are
prohibitively expensive

our son is developing just fine without us being married

We'll get around to it eventually, maybe. It's just not a priority right now.

~~~
Maultasche
Really, that's the only reason the state regulates marriages: it's all about
legal status. It's a way to tell who shares assets, who has the right to make
medical decisions, who takes priority for inheritance, and so forth.

That said, I hear things can get unpleasant for unmarried couples in the
United States when something unpleasant happens and the partner is not allowed
to inherit, visit their loved one in the hospital, and so forth. They're
treated like any other acquaintance.

Many European countries will grant the same rights as a married couple to a
couple that has been together (but not married) for a long period of time and
shares property and financial assets. Might was well get a quick civil
ceremony in those circumstances though: that would probably make life easier.

Germany treats marriage entirely as a civil matter. The official marriage is
performed in a municipal office by a municipal official. If the couple wants
to, they can then have a religious ceremony, but the state doesn't regard a
religious ceremony (at least not one performed within Germany) as a legal
marriage. I think that nicely highlights the fact that the marriage as
regarded by the state and marriage as regarded by religion are really two
separate things that often happen to be co-mingled.

~~~
troygoode
The same is effectively true in the US. The folks you see getting "married" in
church typically sign the government paperwork (the only part that matters)
immediately before/afterward. The church stuff is just for show.

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sokoloff
"Most" millennials are not having children out of wedlock. 57% of Gen-X
parented births are happening to unmarried parents, which would require 88% of
millennials to be parents in order for "most millennials" to be having
children out of wedlock. (There are two ways to not have children out of
wedlock: one is to be married, the other is to not have children. The
"conclusion" in the article ignores the second.)

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chrisdbaldwin
Simple: We've seen record breaking divorce rates in our lifetime, and wedding
ceremonies are a scam.

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jrnichols
I've had a few friends tell me that if they got married, they'd get screwed on
taxes and health insurance. It's more financially viable for them to remain
unmarried. The mother gets a lot of tax breaks for being a "single mother"
that they'd lose otherwise.

