The Decline of Marriage Is Hitting Vegas Hard
This is the first summer in my 35 years of church work that I have no wedding at which to officiate. I have not had one for ten months, which is really, really unusual.
I haven't any explanation that's terribly perspicacious. If pressed, I would note that the institution of marriage, such as it is, is much more associated with the civic, rather than religious, definition these days, and that it is amorphous as it varies from state to state. In its government form, like much that is controlled by the government, it seems trivial.
Younger people are not as interested in institutions of any sort, certainly not those of such a socially-enforced permanence.
Many young men, looking at the demands that are placed on them through marriage, with minimal rewards should the marriage be broken, what with the possibility of loss of income and access to their children, are avoiding such relationships altogether.
Perhaps, and this is the most obvious to me professionally, the regard with which the man in a marital relationship is held is far more mercenary than in the recent past. The man, whether he be suitor, groom, or father, is a prop at the wedding, the provider of at least a portion of the income that permits the purchase of the woman's "dream house", and a biological ingredient in the creation of children. Beyond that, his role is minimal and his concerns often belittled or otherwise disregarded.
Seriously, look at how husbands and fathers are treated in popular culture and TV commercials. No wonder there's a market for books such as this one.