Why Do People Get Married?

This seems like a relevant question, honestly.

Context / Color before we get started: Been married, divorced, and married again.

Years back, in a dive bar somewhere in Richmond (VA), my old buddy Redding C. Cates, the vainglorious UGA-to-Georgetown transfer of fall 2001 (#GoDawgs), told me he thought people only got married because it was the primarily acceptable way to have children. About six of us were in the bar together, and most people nodded in generalized, vague agreement.

At the time he said that, he was married for about 11 years, with two beautiful daughters. And if someone in that position feels that way, I mean, what’s the real deal here?

You know the common argument: marriage is an economic proposition, and we have Jane Austen to thank for the vague idea that there could be anything resembling “love” in a relationship. The economic proposition theory can seem pretty brutal and reductive, but as any number of YouTube would-be economists have noted of late, being single is essentially an unaffordable luxury at this point.

With prices up and people chasing profits and relevance to the tune of you spending more money on cheese, having a partner in many ways is an economic necessity, even if we don’t want to overtly admit that because it feels less romantic. Now, I do know several people who are single, newly-single, long-term single who make ends meet just fine. The argument’s not perfect, but it’s out there.

I’d go back to Redding above, however. I do think a big reason for marriage is that people want kids, and if they’re close with their grandparents or parents (i.e. previous generations), there’s usually some type of ingrained belief that those kids should emerge from a wedded union, or at least a shotgun deal.