"I do"/"I Don't"

In countries such as the United States and Europe it is becoming increasingly common to have children outside of wedlock. It no longer seems necessary to marry if a pregnancy occurs. This stand off approach to marriage could be linked to the increase in divorce rates; people are getting married at an older age than people did only a few generations ago. Typically, when two people were married that is when they would begin to live together and support themselves. In today’s society people live with their significant others without having to get married, and in many cases support each other even if they are not legally together.
Now even if marriage is happening at a later age, childbirth is still likely to take place around the same age due to the “biological clock” or, frankly, from accidents as our society is also increasingly promiscuous. These accidental pregnancies and planned unwed conceptions could lead to marriage for more traditional couples, but it doesn’t seem necessary anymore as women are now in the work force and in many cases support themselves for many years without the help of a husband.
In other cultures however where survival is more difficult than waking up at six am everyday, unmarried child rearing could be most difficult. If the “tribe” does not collectively help to raise children, then women may have a difficult time gathering, or planting enough food for herself and her children. Even in the US such legal arrangements exist like child support, where if the father is not wedded to the mother he is still obligated to help fund the raising of his child. If a man deserts a woman in a culture that cannot bind him to his new “family”, then the abandoned mother and child could suffer from a lack of support that would be offered in traditional marriages.
This being said, I think it is a cultural reflection to forgo marriage in some cases. In such cultures as our own, where women hold their own jobs and households, it may not seem as urgent a situation to marry. While a women being supported by her family in a culture where marriage and childbirth depend of the survival of the people, marriage would be a likely very urgent for the sack of procreation.