Earlier quoted context omitted.
The increasing percentage of non-divorcing marriages might be self-selecting in a sense since it is now socially acceptable to never get married, so we miss out on ‘breakups’ that are long/medium term. (E.g. non-married couples sleeping together for 5 years and having no children and then having a horrible breakup is more likely today than 100 years ago, and they are lost in the divorce statistic).
The topic is the financial problem though, so that statistic would be irrelevant. In a certain way, 5 years together and then breakup is what you should be aiming for, rather than marriage + kids and then breakup. The first one is "the test bed", the latter is a mess
I love this quote. I can't tell you how many people get married, have 2 children (it's always 2!!!) and then pretty much immediately get divorced. They think that by saying "My ex", they're respected more in society ("Oh, someone married you? You must not be that bad.") They don't understand how expensive the divorce process is and how they would have been so much better off having those 2 kids with a sperm donor/surrogate. "The first one is "the test bed", the latter is a mess." Hope you don't mind if I use that quote.