Just as the institution of marriage has changed over the past 100 years, so have people's attitudes about it. Once viewed as a means of financial security, as well as legal protection for women to prevent their husbands from straying, marriage is now seen by many individuals as a sort of trap.

When couples simply cohabitate and split up, they can usually take what they brought into the relationship and leave. This no-hassle approach to relationships is part of the reason why more couples, especially lower-income people, prefer not to get married. If they don't get married, they don't have to get divorced, some believe. According to an analysis by the Pew Research Center, just slightly more than 50 percent of adults in the United States are married, which is the lowest number in decades.

Researchers at two universities studied 61 couples who lived together, and learned that the threat of divorce is keeping some people from getting married. Two-thirds of the research subjects, who were between the ages of 18 and 36, said they worried about what would happen to them financially, socially and emotionally should they divorce. Women, especially those from less financially stable backgrounds, said they worried they couldn't afford to get divorced and then support themselves.

The study, which appears in the December edition of the Journal of Family Relations, said that middle-class couples are less apprehensive about marriage and more likely to view it as a natural step after living together. The working-class women surveyed were less inclined toward marriage, believing that since they frequently make the most money in the household, they would wind up supporting another person rather than get the benefit of support from their husbands. Since escaping the marriage often is expensive, they prefer to stay single, according to the study.

Just as things were 100 years ago, people marry for both love and financial considerations. The difference today is in gender roles and the consequence of failure.

Source: Time Healthland, "Is Fear of Divorce Keeping People from Getting Married?" Belinda Luscombe, Dec. 22, 2011