Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, February 13, 2023

“You can be forgiven for thinking love is in the air. I just bought multiple packs of valentines for my children to profess things to their classmates like, “Valentine, you are din-o-mite” and “You make my heart-saur.” I’m attending a Gal-entines party — something that has morphed from eating a pan of Betty Crocker brownies with roommates in college to a grown-up party and darn good gift exchange. And with any luck, on February 14 I’ll be cooking up dinner with my own Valentine. (We’ve given up going out on the actual day as anyone sharing my Scottish sensibilities for prix fixe menus can understand.)

But the heart of the issue is that love is not really in the air, or at least not in the way it used to be. Marriage rates are at an all-time low. The share of never-married adults has hit record highs, with 35% of Americans ages 25 to 50 having not married as of 2018, up from 9% in 1970, according to the Institute for Family Studies. . . .”