Five Marriage Trends for 2026

Every generation is searching for meaning, but most of us are looking in the wrong places.

In our latest episode of Change the Odds, we peel back the curtain on the five trends that are quietly reshaping (and in some cases, eroding) our most important relationships. Whether you’re a Boomer or Gen Alpha, the "rules" of connection have officially changed.

Here is the state of the union across the generations:

• Boomers: The "Gray Divorce." 💔 Marriages are ending in the 70s because couples are clinging to 1960s roles in a 2026 world. If your marriage isn’t evolving, it’s expiring.

• Gen X: The Leadership Skip. 🏃‍♂️ Being passed over for leadership is driving Gen X into early retirement. But without a plan for the "Extended Emptiness," that extra decade of life could become a decade of isolation.

• Millennials: The Sex Recession. 📉 Physical intimacy has plummeted 20% since the 90s. We’ve replaced the "beautiful act" with AirPods and endless scrolling. Your phone has become your spouse's biggest rival.

• Gen Z: The Vulnerability Gap. 🛡️ Seeking "certainty" before committing is the fastest way to guarantee the very loneliness you’re trying to avoid. Love is a risk, and there are no guarantees.

• Gen Alpha: The Human Gap. 🤖 With 52% of people now using AI as a "relationship assistant," we have to ask: Is it still a human relationship if a bot wrote the apology?

The question is: Which trend is hitting your home the hardest?

We want to hear from you. Take our 10-second poll below:

The odds are stacked against the modern couple, but you don't have to be a statistic. We’re diving deep into the practical ways to fight back against these trends and reclaim the human heart of your marriage.

By the way: If your kids' sports schedule is the reason you haven't had a date night in a month, you really need to hear the 15-minute mark of this episode. Trust us.

Every January, I like to flip through some of my favorite books of the past 30 years. This week, I reviewed one of my favorite leadership books ever, Edwin Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve. This book rocked me 20 years ago. This week, before a meeting, I opened the book and quickly saw one quote I had underlined. Friedman said that when a person can’t self-regulate, they will regularly ignore others' boundaries.

There it is. Twenty years ago, the connection between Love Styles and Stay In Your Lane was already obvious. Why is it hard to stay in our lanes? It’s because we haven’t truly healed our love styles.

Both books are simple yet important. It’s a good time to take a minute to review them (or order them for the first time) to remind yourself of the principles in each book.

Finally, thank you for all the kind words about the podcast last week with my son. It was so fun to record with him and truth be told, I’ll look for any excuse to get him to talk to me for an hour.

This clip had a little moment on TikTok.

@changetheodds.com

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