Why do people get married

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Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Marriage is not for everyone. Today, plenty of people choose to have long-term partnerships and never tie the knot or they live happily single with a strong group of friends and family members around them. So if you are wondering if marriage is right for you, you are not alone. Marriage is a deeply personal decision, and it will vary based on personality and lifestyle aspirations. Besides, what really makes someone want to get married?

That's why we turned to dating expert Barbie Adler to answer that question and more. Ahead, she explains the most popular reasons for marriage, how to know if your partner is ready, and what to do if marriage isn't for you.

Meet the Expert. Barbie Adler is a national dating expert and founder of matchmaking company Selective Search. Here are a few:. There are couples who have lived together for a decade who still feel different once they are married.

They have successful professions, a solid group of family and friends, hobbies, a life full of travel and joy. But the one thing they are missing, something marriage gives, is constant companionship. They want someone who will be their best friend and their partner in crime not just now, but as they grow old as well. For many couples, emotional reasons are the most obvious cause for walking down the aisle. This is the number one reason respondents gave.

Getting married can be very practical for financial reasons. Financial advantages of marriage might include:. Health insurance is another motivator for some who choose to get married. Sharing medical insurance for couples and families can be very cost effective and may prompt some to walk down the aisle. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that married adults between the ages of were far more likely to be insured than their unmarried counterparts.

According to the CDC survey, The Pew Research Center survey also suggests that having and raising children may be a motivator for people to make a lifelong commitment. The Future of Children Report from Princeton University suggests that children born in household where the parents are married get many benefits from the marriage, including the following:. Of course, these benefits only apply when children are born into a healthy, stable family environment. Being married does not guarantee that children will benefit from the parents' relationship.

In some faiths, a couple may not be considered married if they only complete a civil ceremony - a religious ceremony is required to confirm their union before the eyes of God. A couple who shares the same or similar faiths may want to honor their relationship with that religious commitment , or if their faiths are different, they may plan an interfaith marriage ceremony to blend their spirituality together.

Although there are no statistics to tell how many couples marry because of societal expectations, there's no denying that many couples feel intense peer pressure to marry from their parents, relatives, or other married friends, particularly if they already have children or plan to start a family.

Single individuals may also be pressured to "settle down" and get married, and for some people, the appeal of a party to celebrate their union is incentive enough to get married. While love may be the biggest reason people marry, it's not the only one.

The decision to get married or to move in with a partner is a personal one, but for most married and cohabiting adults, love and companionship trump other considerations, such as the desire to have children someday, convenience or finances.

When asked why they are not currently engaged or married to their partner, many cite financial reasons. Making a formal commitment is seen as a more important factor by married adults who did not live with their spouse before marriage. More practical reasons come into play to a greater degree for cohabiting adults than for those who are married. Among cohabiters, women are more likely than men to say love and wanting to have children someday were major reasons why they moved in with their partner.

There are no notable gender differences among married adults. There are also some differences across educational groups among married and cohabiting adults.

Two-thirds of cohabiting adults who are not engaged but say they would like to get married someday cite either their partner or themselves not being ready financially as a major or minor reason why they are not engaged or married to their current partner. The survey also posed this question to cohabiters who are not engaged and are not sure they want to get married someday.