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The Load-Bearing Relationship

palladiummag.com · 1,680 words · saved by 17 readers

Fewer people are getting married. More people are staying unhappily single—or getting strung along—for longer periods of time and fewer people seem to be finding themselves in happy relationships. Living in Los Angeles, my circle of twenty-somethings rotate through flings and “situationships.” I have one very beautiful and universally-liked friend who counted fifty first and second-odd dates in the last year. Online, our internet friends fill my timeline with bleak romantic discourse. It’s understood that the kids are not alright. In 2000, the percentage of Americans between the ages of 25 and 50 who had never married was just 21%. By 2018, the share of never-married adults climbed to 35%. The median age at first marriage was 25 for women and 27 for men in 2000; by 2022, it was 28 and 30. Today, 41% of Americans ages 18-29 are single, and about a third of never-married single adults say they have never been in a committed romantic relationship. Much ink has been spilled over this fact.

Casey Horner/Couple standing on grass field mountain Fewer people are getting married. More people are staying unhappily single—or getting strung along—for longer periods of time and fewer people seem to be finding themselves in happy relationships. Living in Los Angeles, my circle of twenty-somethings rotate through flings and “situationships.” I have one very beautiful and universally-liked friend who counted fifty first and second-odd dates in the last year. Online, our internet friends fill my timeline with bleak romantic discourse. It’s understood that the kids are not alright. In 2000, t

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