Young people nowadays cannot possibly dream of affording a home. That means that they grow older by themselves, developing their own personalities and interests on their own which makes them pickier (and as you mention, also unwilling to put the effort to commit to a person that is going to need lots of “work” after spending a few months with them).

I do feel that it’s not all good, though. Yes, we’re greatly diminishing the number of miserable marriages (which affected women disproportionally as they used to have less financial mobility so they had to “put up” with more for their survival) but I think it’s also making people give up on one another too easily or get too picky. Yes, we don’t have to tolerate assholery or waste our time with people who are not worth it. We don’t owe anything to anybody. But also… nobody is perfect. Learning to put up with minor differences, growing up together and becoming better for each other is possible… but some perseverance, effort, and love (the act of will, not the fickle emotion) are necessary.

My impression: possibly fewer truly long-term relation (though more than you might think), but much happier ones. I think the longing for a partner who actually understands you and stays with you for life is way more than a cultural pattern and is not going to go away anytime soon.

These days, people do separate easier, and it makes for a lot less abuse and psychological warfare among partners, which is good, while also inviting *some* people to avoid committing anything to a relationship, which I guess is unavoidable. But none of this means that couples who’ve been together for a while, and still happy with each other were any less faithful towards each other. In fact, I would claim that makes it more probable that any couple which has stayed together for a few years and adapted to each other actually honestly starts sticking together like glue, independent of whether that’s expected by society or not.