zlacker

I think this is part of it, but your framing assumes that people make the choice to not have kids first, and then use that to reach the choice to not "bother" with marriage. I think there are also economic factors pushing against people getting married even if they might want to be married without kids. For example:

- The share of adult children who live with their parents has been increasing -- unsurprising given the cost of housing. But while a millennial might grudgingly get their boomer parents to put up with extended cohabitation, that situation makes it hard to find a mate, and asking a partner to move into your basement bedroom is probably a non-starter.

- Especially prior to the pandemic, there has been a long trend of workers were becoming less mobile. Likely both partners in a marriage need to work, but housing that works for one partners job may not work for the other's.

- The share of workers with multiple jobs (or one 'job' plus gig work) has increased. As you spend more hours working just to stay afloat, of course it's harder to find and nurture a relationship.