Why People Are Waiting To Get Married...

The idea of marriage changes from generation to generation, and for those of us that are in our 20s, the idea is changing a lot. What use to be a ceremony that was conducted in someones early 20s, has now been pushed back as far as 10 years.

According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the following is the estimated age of first marriages by sex.

Year Men Women

1890 26.1 22.0

1950 22.8 20.3

1960 22.8 20.2

1970 23.2 20.8

1980 24.7 22.0

1990 26.1 23.9

2000 26.8 25.1


I conducted a Twitter survey to see the ideal age that people would like to see themselves married to determine what the new average might be for this decade and here is what I got:

Men Women

31 29.2


I was surprised to learn that both men and women saw themselves being married in their 30s. I grew up hearing my friends say they couldn't wait to be married by 25, and have kids by 30. We have reached a point in today's society where waiting is perfectly fine.

I wanted to know why most people were choosing around their 30s to get married, so I conducted another Twitter survey.

Reasons:

Working on their careers first
Financial stability
Life Experience
Taking time to wait for right candidate
More self aware
People are living longer
Don't want to rush
Travel Plans
Location

The number one reason that people were waiting was because of their career goals.

Family seemed to be on the top of the list in our grand parents generation, and it appears that our generation focuses more on "ourselves" being at the top of the list. We are a lot more focused on success and enjoying life, than raising a family early on. In some ways this could be great. It could even ensure that our generation will be better off when it comes time to raising our family.

But are we also at the risk of pushing the idea of family out of the window all together. Will the idea of marriage one day disappear? Will we think our careers are more important than family all together? For now, let's just hope that we are simply waiting to be more stable. We just need to make sure that we keep our priorities in check and remember what are true contribution to the world is. Don't be afraid to discuss and think about when and how you are going to raise your family. It will be one of the most important things you will ever have to do.

What is your ideal age to get married? Why do you pick that age?

-Keep Up!