As summer approaches quickly, so does the infamous "wedding season." If you're anything like me, your Facebook timeline is full of posts from people who are excitedly counting down the days to their special day. Or, on the flipside, you're being bombarded by posts from people who swear they will never in their lifetime get married. In my scrolling, I've noticed there's a pretty significant divide between the two groups. Why are some millennials less inclined to get married than others? It turns out there are several factors that play into the answer.
Declining marriage rates in the 21st century.
In 1960, the median age of women who were getting married was 20-years-old, and the median age of men getting married was 23. Fast forward 56-years to the present day, however, and you'll see a very different story. I am 19-years-old. Most of my friends are 19-20; there is no one in my immediate friend group who plans to tie the knot within the next year. Today, the median age of women getting married is 27; men are waiting a little longer, until 29. According to recent studies, an astonishing 25-percent of millennials will never be married. As author Meg Murphy puts it: "Traditional marriage has been on a downward trajectory for generations, but with this group it appears to be in free fall."
Why is traditional marriage suddenly in free fall? Over the past 50-years, there has been a drastic shift in ideals: marriage and family are no longer young people's number one priority. Millennials are more concerned with educating themselves, furthering their careers, and even traveling, more so than they are concerned with settling down. This shift in ideals can be attested to a growing work force.
Financial constraints and the workforce.
According to an Urban Institute report, "Current marriage trends will make it challenging to develop policies that efficiently target the needs of the growing number of unmarried poor." While there are financial benefits to being married, it seems as though the cost of a marriage is just too much for struggling young adults to handle. Approximately 70-percent of Millennials surveyed say they would like to get married, but lack the funds to make it happen; many say it is desired, but simply out of reach. According to Kim Parker from the Pew research institute, "Marriage hasn’t fallen out of favor, but financial constraints and imbalances in the marriage market may be holding people back from taking the plunge.”
Similarly, studies show that women want to marry a man with a secure job. In the midst of the feminist movement and the rise of gender equality, women have entered the work force and taken it on headstrong; however research suggests women do not want to be the sole breadwinners of the family.
Divorce rates and the psychological effect divorce has on millennials.
Divorce is something that has affected many millennials, often at a young age. Growing up, my parents were divorced, as were many of my friends' parents. Speaking on a personal note, witnessing that endeavor at a young age has all but turned me off from the idea of marriage. As it turns out, there could be a link between divorce rates and the declining marriage rate. According to the national census, divorce rates reached their peak of 40-percent between 1978-1980; since that time, the divorce rate has been reported to be approximately 33-percent as of 2015. Why has there been a 17-percent decline between the baby boomers and millennials? The answer may lie in the effects of divorce. While there is not much research to prove it, one can imagine that, like in my case, watching parents go through the trials of a divorce at a young age can bar a person from wanting to risk it. Why get married in the first place if you aren't 100-percent certain you won't end up like your parents?
It may be the case that many millennials are waiting, as the median age of marriage would suggest. Rather than rushing into things, like our parents and grandparents may have done before us, millennials are more inclined to take time first to focus on their educations and careers, and on establishing themselves as people before welcoming another person into the mix. This generation is still fairly young, and so we really won't know how our marriage statistics will play out until it happens. We can only wait and see!
