old ball 'n chain

I think his might be your problem. For many years boomers and generation x would use this as a go-to joke. Stand up comedies, older movies and just bar jokes would centre round the "old ball and chain".

Your post is littered with very old fashioned ideals that obviously some people hold but many people now don't.

This is evolving because priorities are changing. Gender roles are becoming more equal as women are working more etc, people are with partners they see as friends not just parents to their children, divorce is less of a stigma so people dont stay in miserable or abusive relationships as much as before.

This gives people more opportunity to be with someone because they actually like them as a person. Not stuck with someone because of tradition and because they see divorce as a sin.