Millennials And Marriage: What Do The Statistics Say?

Marriage isn’t down, it’s just late. That’s what statistics and some experts who have investigated the relationship between millennials and marriage have concluded.

The new generations do not ignore the idea/desire to get married, they just changed how and when they do it. Millennial couples believe in marriage, but consider an average of six years of relationship before getting married is adequate.

The generation before these young people had already started to increase the length of this period, and this number appears to be on the rise. This time needed to get to know yourself and your partner seems to be becoming one of the guarantees before marriage.

In the end, many millennials are children of divorced parents; maybe they want to make sure they don’t have to go through this at their own weddings. The financial issue also seems to play a fundamental role in the decision to commit and get married.

Young people want to develop their professional careers before starting a family. There are those who say that this is a selfish attitude, but the truth is that it is a very responsible way to bring your future children into an increasingly competitive world for children and their parents.

What do the statistics say about millennials and marriage?

Basically, what the statistics published by the New York Times say is that young people are waiting longer before getting married. In the United States, in 2018, the average age to get married was 30 years for men and 28 years for women.

They also show that the percentage of people who decide to get married has fallen by almost 25% among young people since the 1970s.

Unlike what happened a few decades ago, young couples take longer to consolidate their relationship or decide to live together for a while before getting married.

The statistics also say that most people who earn less than $30,000 a year consider their financial situation to be the biggest problem in making the decision to commit sentimentally.

The reality is better than it looks

While the statistics can be devastating, a second reading with a little more depth can reveal profound but also more responsible changes in the relationship between young millennials and marriage.

According to researcher Stephanie Coontz, when young millennials reach middle age, 80% of them will have married. This percentage is similar to that observed 50 years ago, although the age at which marriage takes place has changed.

Millennial women and marriage

One of the factors that may be decisively influencing this aspect is the very important change in roles that women have consolidated in recent decades. Unlike their mothers and grandmothers, this generation of young women did not grow up being raised for marriage.

Women are, for the first time in history, exchanging marriage as a life purpose for quality marriages.

In other words, getting married is no longer the main objective of women, and when they decide to take this step, they look for partners that guarantee them happier and more lasting marriages.

On the other hand, marriage is no longer the inflection point that marks what is a serious relationship for society.

Higher quality unions

For those who are quick to judge and consider all of this a lack of purpose, here’s an interesting fact: Millennials’ marriages seem to have a higher quality, although they get married less often.

Between 2008 and 2016, the divorce rate dropped 18%. These are data provided by another study carried out, this time by Phillip Cohen, from the University of Maryland. The study’s author concluded that millennials are adopting increasingly selective criteria for marriage.

Its purpose is to differentiate between romantic relationships and marriages, which are not always the same. They seek greater stability with their partners, more rewarding coexistence and economic interdependence.

We are facing large-scale cultural and social changes. The institution of marriage is not losing its value among young people, but it is being overhauled and beginning to be evaluated in another way.