People lamenting the the fact that a smaller percentage of Americans are married now than ever before often will ask what has changed to bring this about.
Life has changed, indeed.
One thing that has changed:
Women have options now.
Do you want to change that?
Most people don’t.
It wasn’t all that long ago that women didn’t have full access to higher education, or the workplace, or financial services. Government was smaller with much less or no “social safety net” provided by government. Women who were abused by their husband had few places, if any, to escape and the social pressure, often from their own parents and siblings, was to stay with or go back to her husband. Being divorced could mean destitution and being ostracized.
A woman’s realistic options were:
- Marry young and pop out/raise children, keep the home, maybe work in her husband’s business/the family farm, and be dependent on her husband
- Depend on her father, uncle, or brother, helping to raise their children and/or working in their business
- Be a teacher or secretary, which they might be expected to give up if they married
- Be a prostitute
- Be a nun
Of course there were some outliers, but those options were what most women faced.
Women can now thrive without ever marrying. Women can decide to leave a marriage and nobody can stop them. They’ll even be applauded and can take half of the wealth with them and get ongoing payments. They can have government take care of them if they don’t take care of themselves. They can have their own residence.
Many women really don’t want to be wife to a husband. Many women don’t want to be mothers. In the past, many women like that were pressured into taking on a husband and having children. Now that they have options, many women opt to NOT marry. That’s just one reason marriage rates are down.
I’m glad women have options, although I want government much smaller and for private charity to handle the legitimate needs of those who need help. And women having options means lower marriage rates. I don’t see that as a problem, as long as women aren’t intentionally depriving a child of their father.
Do you agree? Disagree? Your comments are welcomes, as always.
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