We are no longer following a script just because it’s "tradition." Marriage isn’t disappearing, but it is undeniably changing shape. In the United States alone, marriage rates have fallen sharply over the last six decades — dropping from 82 marriages per 1,000 unmarried adults in 1960 to just 34 per 1,000 in 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. That statistic is often framed as a “crisis,” a signal of declining values , fading commitment or a generation afraid of responsibility. But for