Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
I was reading a study on low-income households in American recently, and it seems that the poor today think they need to be more financially secure to get married than they do to have children. A woman who works at the department of motor vehicles has a boyfriend who works on and off in a drywalling crew. They don't think they're in any position to get married, but it's okay to have kids. Which sounds crazy to me. But apparently these are widely help beliefs. And after a few years, as buddy shows himself not especially responsible, she ditches him and he moves on. Marriage is for the rich, kids are for everybody. I honestly don't know how you change that belief, which is pretty much the opposite of how the educated and affluent approach things.
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I know one thing that is on many men's minds when it comes to marriage, is alimony, and child support. If someone doesn't feel secure enough in their earnings, the last thing they want to risk is both their spouse leaving them, and suing them for half of what little they already saved. I know that the laws surrounding common law have adjusted to a lack of formal marriages, but it hasn't affected the impression that it is less costly to avoid marriage.
In addition, the whole marriage industry out there, from cakes to dresses to what have you, has driven people to feel that an inexpensive wedding is just showing off how poorly you are doing. And in America, there aren't poor people, there are merely temporarily embarrassed millionaires. They'll be able to afford it next year.