With national cohabitation rates on the rise, many couples in New Jersey are avoiding marriage altogether. Couples are deciding to get married later in life, allowing them time to weigh the option of marriage and find a career without being legally tied to one another. According to a new survey conducted in part by researchers from Cornell, it isn’t career aspects that are stopping many from getting married, it is divorce.

The survey examined more than 60 cohabiting couples varying in age from 18 to 36 and discovered that many low-income women are worried about being trapped in a marriage if things do not go as planned. Even though some of the respondents worried about feeling trapped, approximately two-thirds of them were worried about the effects of divorce. The potential for emotional, economic and social fallout that comes with the end of a marriage can be scary and researchers believe this is why many of these couples chose to stick with cohabitation rather than getting married.

According to the Pew Research Center, the U.S. marriage rate is at the lowest it has been in decades. With a little more than half of adults getting married, research surveys such as the aforementioned one are being used more and more to understand why the rate is so low. According to many, the prospect of divorce is a major concern for couples that are considering marriage.

Interestingly, low-income female respondents were more worried about divorce and feeling trapped in a marriage than middle-income female respondents. Researchers believe this is because low-income women have become the major breadwinners in their income bracket while men with similar finances still hold many gender-based social norms. This means that low-income women believe they will have to take care of another individual without receiving any major benefits because their potential husband does not bring much to the table in the form of finances.

Source: Time, “Is Fear of Divorce Keeping People from Getting Married?,” Belinda Luscombe, Dec. 22, 2011