When people find out that I’m engaged, they typically say the same thing: “you’re too young.” This doesn’t bother me anymore for a couple of reasons; the first reason being I am completely comfortable marrying my fiancé, he makes me happy and I don’t know why I would wait around for someone else just in case there’s someone who can make me happier. I’m sure more experienced people will tell you, it doesn’t matter how many people you date, you’ll always have disagreements and arguments and different perspectives on things. It’s normal and unavoidable. The second reason I’m happy to be engaged and soon-to-be-married, is I actually know a lot of people my age who are engaged or already married all over the U.S. These are people I went to middle school, high school, and college with; real people. When I talk to people who are older than me, I find they typically waited until they were in their 30’s to get married. This made me wonder what the shift was that encouraged my generation to be so confident and ready to marry their partner at such “a young age” compared to the older generation who waited longer to get married.

The National Health Statistics Reports from 2006 to 2010 show that attitudes on marriage were exactly what I understood from older people; marriage is a serious commitment and you want to be sure about it. This is why the report says that a lot of people during that time preferred to live together before getting married, although there has been no proof that living together actually reduces the chances of divorce later on. This is the latest official report on marriages in the U.S., but one millennial Huffington Post writer in 2013 noticed the same pattern of young marriages as I have. At the time, Sarah Flanagan, (she emphasizes she is not even 25 yet) shares her major concern for the wildfire that is marriage among millennials. She did not feel ready at all for marriage, or even ready to consider it, and yet her peers of 20- something year-olds are either engaged, married, or even married with children. She felt this was for several reasons. To sum it up: basically millennials have seen the mistakes of their “hippie” parents and learned, and that millennials want stability.

I imagine this year or next, reports will come out showing a rise in marriages among younger people. I'm excited for my acquaintances who are/getting married; they are in love and happy which is why they're making the decision.