When I was little, I used to dream about my wedding: the white dress, the cake, who would be there, the decorations, and of course: who I'd marry. As I grew older, I didn't think it was necessary to have marriage as a life goal. I watched my parents fight over the last few years of their marriage before they got divorced. I didn't want that to happen to me. So naturally, I put it in the back of my mind to avoid the pressures of marriage. You don't need marriage to be a happy individual. Granted, now I'm engaged---but if I wasn't, my thought still stands.

The Millennial marriage rate is slowly declining.

Why aren’t people getting married anymore? The three main reasons people give for their singleness are that they haven’t found the right person (30%), aren’t financially stable enough (27%) and are not ready to settle down (22%). Many more young people are eschewing tying the knot, at least for a while, for shacking up. Cohabitation is much less common than marriage and cohabiting relationships are much less stable than marriages.

It seems nowadays that women are attracted to older men, who would most likely have experience, a secure job, and would hopefully want children at this point in their lives. Older men seem to be attracted to younger women who can have children. Women also are more employed compared to fifty years ago, so there wouldn't be much of a fear to become independent.

Fifty years ago, women wouldn't have been able to divorce so easily; There were restrictive laws, fear of being financially unstable, and there seemed to be more reasons to be married that were beneficial than not.

Another argument that can be made is, are people skipping marriage all together, or just delaying it?

It's okay to delay marriage, especially if you aren't ready or aren't actively seeking to get hitched. More and more young adults today are delaying marriage because they see it as a capstone that comes after achieving one’s life goals — professional and otherwise. These days, a happy marriage requires a serious commitment of time and energy that can be hard to maintain. Some might find it a risky habit of relying on another individual for emotional needs.

Either way, getting married can be a wonderful event to celebrate with your friends and family. Yet, it's okay not to tie the knot, too. There can be some pressures, but make sure it's what you want to do, and not everyone else's---You have the power to thrive as an individual both ways.