As of June, the number of births to unmarried parents was virtually neck and neck with those born to married couples.
That's flipping the old, standard timeline on its head: Get Married. Work hard. Have Kids. Retire. And Die.
Now those long-standing norms have been smashed like a toddler's birthday cake.
One factor could be that couples delayed weddings because of lockdowns and Covid rules. But given that conceiving a child did not violate indoor gathering limits, many decided to not wait to have a baby.
So we're going to meet more and more unmarried life partners in the coming years, but there's some admin we just haven't figured out yet. We know what married couples commonly call each other-- husband or wife. But what about those who haven't married? What do they call each other?
The Project wanted answers, so they brought in someone who performs in front of hundreds of couples every week: stand-up comedian Eli Matthewson. And he knows personally that the naming conventions can be a huge issue.
"This year, me and my boyfriend bought our first house," Matthewson told The Project. "You have to write a will for each other. And you can't leave things to your boyfriend in your will... unless it's, like, an Xbox."
So what does Eli prefer? Significant other? Boyfriend/girlfriend? Partner?
"I've never liked the word partner. I've always thought it was very dry and boring." he told The Project. "I've always preferred emergency contact."
Watch Eli's full interview above and see if the panel can come up with a term everyone can agree on.
