I don't want to get into a flame war about marriage — though it's not for me — but I don't agree that marriage:

1. increases sexual pleasure (as with all relationships, after awhile sex becomes stagnant and couples actively seek ways to "spice up" their love lives; peak sexual excitement generally comes early in any relationship and necessarily cools over time),

2. protects against feelings of loneliness (a bad marriage can actually heighten feelings of loneliness and isolation, and adds the additional discomfort of feeling trapped in that despair),

3. protects women from domestic violence (there are lots of abusive husbands, and abusive wives for that matter; a man who would abuse a woman before marriage won't suddenly change just because he's married),

4. enhances a parent's ability to parent (that makes a lot of assumptions about the partnership that have nothing directly to do with marriage, though I will agree that two _good_ parents in the same household helps with division of parenting tasks, scheduling, etc.)

5. helps create better or more reliable employees (this can really go either way, and it can make an employee less reliable especially if the marriage ends in a messy divorce; also, people tend to "check out" of their jobs for a month or two before the wedding, making them less productive; a good marriage can enhance productivity and reliability somewhat, at least early on, but a bad marriage can destroy a worker's ability to function effectively), or

6. increase individual earnings and savings (while some people become more driven to make money and spend wisely when they get married — to pay for a bigger home, to start a family, etc — the reasons for making more money tend to eat up the extra funds; household income certainly increases in most cases, but individual earnings and savings rarely increase due to marriage).

There are good marriages — I'm not arguing against that, and I am very happy for those who are happily joined in matrimony — but I contend that those same people would have good relationships whether they were married or not. Half of all marriages end in divorce, and that figure has been rather constant over the last several decades (though it's dropping somewhat recently, as is the marriage rate). Of the half of marriages that survive, a lot are unhappy (I don't have any statistics, but observation of married couples would indicate that the percentage is relatively high) and stay married for familial or financial reasons.

I think it is better to build a relationship with the right person than it is to have the supposedly "right kind" of relationship (i.e., marriage).

I have other objections to marriage that are more philosophical than pragmatic, but I'm quite certain nobody wants me to continue rambling about this topic.

U have made some very good points and i agree with u. I know some people that are married but so unhappy but won't divorce for kids or money. I myself would rather be alone and happy then married and lonely.