The 7% poverty rate is linked to the couple being married. Cohabiting (unmarried) poverty rate is 14%.But how much of that actually has anything to do with them being married?
Cohabiting couples statistically average two-thirds of the combined income of married couples, and are less likely to pool all of their incomes. The U.S. Census Bureau in 2011 puts that figure at 75% for cohabiters verses 83% for married couples. Cohabiting couples who've had children together are more likely to pool their money.
Cohabiting couple are more likely to separate than marrieds (of course they do separate as well, just less) and therefor have less chances to accumulate financial assets over time.
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Correlation still doesn't equal causation. It could just as easily be that many people choose not to get married (or postpone it) because they're already financially unsound. (marriage can be expensive, especially the way many people would prefer to do it)
And any accumulated assets still have to be accumulated from the individual partners, so that's really only a factor when one partner is completely dependant on the other, thereby potentially pushing them into poverty if the relationship ends (which is the kind of problem that the govt. can't solve just by giving marriage incentives).