美國年輕人：因恐懼離婚而不結婚

Divorce Fear Stops Young Couples Marrying

Fear of the trauma of divorce is stopping many young couples from walking down the aisle,1 a university report has found.

With the share of married adults at an all-time low in the United States, the latest research by demographers unveils clues why couples dont get married—they fear divorce.2

Among cohabitating couples, more than two-thirds of the studys respondents admitted to concerns about dealing with the social, legal, emotional and economic consequences of a possible divorce.3

Despite the concerns, middle-class subjects spoke more favorably about tying the knot and viewed cohabitation as a natural stepping stone to marriage compared to their working-class counterparts.4

Lower-income women, in particular, disproportionately expressed doubts about the “trap” of marriage,5 fearing that it could be hard to exit if things go wrong or it would lead to additional domestic responsibilities but few benefits.

The study also found working-class cohabitating couples were more apt to view marriage as “just a piece of paper,” nearly identical to their existing relationship.6

They were twice as likely to admit fears about being stuck in marriage with no way out once they were relying on their partners share of income to get by7.

The researchers hope that their findings could help premarital counselors to better tailor their lessons to assuage widespread fears of divorce and to target the specific needs of various socioeconomic classes.8

1. trauma: 心理創傷；walk down the aisle:〈口〉步入婚姻的殿堂，結婚。

2. share: 部分，份額；all-time: 空前的；demographer: 人口統計學家；unveil: 揭示。

3. 在該研究調查的同居情侶中，有超過三分之二的人承認自己擔心如果離婚將要應對社會、法律、情感和經濟等一系列后果。

4. favorably: 肯定地，贊許地；tie the knot: 結婚；cohabitation: 同居；stepping stone: 進身之階，敲門磚；counterpart: 地位相當的人。

5. disproportionately: 不成比例地，不相稱地；trap: 牢籠，困境。

6. apt to: 傾向于……；identical to: 相似的。

7. get by:（錢）勉強夠花。

8. premarital: 婚前的；counselor: 顧問；tailor: 調整使合適；assuage:緩和，減輕；socioeconomic: 社會經濟學的。