Is there really a need to be married anymore? Does marriage actually benefit your relationship, or is it an outdated institution that we’ll be better off without? In this speech, I’ll convince you that marriage is a thing of the past, and that society’s views on marriage have changed enough in the past decade that marriage really isn’t necessary anymore. One of the main purposes of marriage is to maintain a permanent relationship, but nowadays marriage doesn’t lead to a permanent relationship due to the increase of divorce rates. In the US, 41-50% of first marriages end in divorce, and the average marriage duration is 8 years. What’s the point of getting married if it doesn’t cause a permanent commitment and you 're probably going to get divorced anyway? Besides, even if you don’t get divorced, marrying to make a commitment to someone isn’t necessary because nowadays people live together without marital vows, and they still have a healthy relationship and a commitment. They can even make their own commitments to each other, that will mean twice as much as a marital vow ever will. Another reason people get married is to be able to live together, because it used to be socially unacceptable to live together if you weren 't married. But nowadays, people are encouraged to live together before marriage, to make sure that they can live together before making a commitment. So now there is less urgency to get married and move in together, because chances are, you’re probably already